ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Environment Agency

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions were instigated in each region by the Environment Agency in each year since 2008; and how many such prosecutions were successful.

Richard Benyon: The tables supplied set out the number and result of prosecutions instigated in each Environment Agency region since 2008.
	
		
			 Table A: Rod-and-Line Fisheries Prosecutions (ie fishing without a licence or in the closed season) 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			  Successful Total Successful Total Successful Total Successful Total Successful Total 
			 Anglian 537 543 463 464 330 330 216 217 195 196 
			 Midlands 743 754 490 491 421 425 307 307 568 572 
			 North East 609 616 646 648 631 639 449 453 614 616 
			 North West 723 723 450 451 448 450 293 295 278 279 
			 Southern(1) 456 469 259 259 245 248 (2)724 (2)734 (2)358 (2)361 
			 Thames(1) 1,244 1,281 892 895 657 667 (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 South West 328 330 117 117 53 54 36 36 130 131 
			 Wales 308 315 220 220 153 153 78 79 733 742 
		
	
	
		
			 Table B: All Other Environmental Prosecutions—Including: waste management; water quality; water resources; pollution cases; emissions to air; radioactive substances; breaches of various environmental permits and operating without a permit; flood defence; navigation and non-standard fisheries cases (eg poaching) 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			  Successful Total Successful Total Successful Total Successful Total Successful Total 
			 Anglian 58 58 54 55 64 64 99 100 79 81 
			 Midlands 118 123 82 88 63 67 77 80 42 43 
			 North East 95 97 110 113 121 123 128 128 78 79 
			 North West 68 68 82 84 88 89 91 91 60 61 
			 Southern(1) 79 79 60 60 52 52 (2)120 (2)120 (2)78 (2)78 
			 Thames(1) 75 78 49 56 86 89 (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 South West 99 100 84 84 98 99 83 87 63 67 
			 Wales 123 124 135 136 71 71 93 93 101 102 
			 (1) In 2011 the Environment Agency merged its ‘Southern' and ‘Thames' regions to form a new ‘South East' region, the data have been merged accordingly. (2) Indicates brace.

EU Grants and Loans

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the European Commission consultation on the European School Milk and Fruit and Vegetable Schemes.

David Heath: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I provided her with on 7 March 2013, Official Report, column 1169W, and to the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Gordon Henderson), on 20 March 2013, Official Report, column 706W.

Floods: Insurance

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what information his Department provides to people living in flood risk areas on securing fair home insurance premium;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure that home insurance premiums accurately reflect the risk of flooding.

Richard Benyon: In collaboration with the National Flood Forum and industry representatives, DEFRA published a “Guide to obtaining flood insurance in high risk areas” in July 2012.
	This will be made available in the Library of the House.
	The guide provides practical information to householders living in high flood risk areas that are finding it difficult to find insurance cover.
	It provides helpline numbers that will assist householders to locate flood specialist insurance brokers and the information that may be needed by those brokers. It also provides tips on how to reduce the impact of flooding on properties and useful information on key organisations responsible for the management of flood risk.
	The Environment Agency provides maps on its website which show areas at risk of flooding and information on how that might affect an individual's insurance. This information is updated quarterly and is available at:
	http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/31650.aspx
	DEFRA has also been working with the Association of British Insurers and others to establish a common methodology for reporting the impact of property-level protection measures in reducing potential flood damages. We have recently published the resulting template and guidance which will help insurers incorporate that information into their risk assessment and pricing decisions. This information is available on the Environment Agency's website at the following web address:
	http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/planning/129526.aspx
	Constructive discussions continue between Government and the Association of British Insurers and others about the future of flood insurance. We need a solution that ensures affordable insurance bills for those at flood risk but does not place unsustainable costs on wider policyholders and the taxpayer. A range of options are on the table and no final decisions have been taken.
	I will endeavour to provide a further public update at the earliest appropriate opportunity.

Food: Inspections

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how frequently his Department undertakes reviews of the available sampling and testing capacity for food standards and food hygiene.

Anna Soubry: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the central competent authority for food safety and has a statutory function under the Food Standards Art 1999 to protect public health and consumers' other interests in relation to food and drink. The majority of food law enforcement is delegated to local authorities throughout the United Kingdom which carry out checks of all food businesses in their area to ensure compliance with food safety/traceability and labelling requirements. Local authority food sampling responsibilities are set out in the statutory Food Law Code of Practice (separate parallel Codes of Practice exist for each of the four UK countries), as part of which they are required to develop an annual sampling programme for their area and provide the resources necessary to carry it out.
	The FSA monitors arrangements to make sure that there is adequate provision for local authority sampling and analysis as part of an annual process, whereby the FSA reports on the UK's performance in carrying out regulatory controls, as set out in the National Control Plan required under the EC Official Feed and Food Regulation 882/2004.
	In addition, the FSA identifies priorities each year for the national co-ordinated food-sampling programme, carried out by local authorities funded by the FSA. The priorities take into account consumer and public health protection, and are risk and evidence-based and intelligence-led. The priorities are published on the FSA's website.

Food: Inspections

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many reviews of the Public Analyst service have been (a) commenced and (b) completed by his Department since 2000.

Anna Soubry: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	Since 2000 there has been one review of the UK Public Analyst service undertaken by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), working with various stakeholders, in 2007. This review followed the 1998 Turner Review of Public Analyst arrangements in England and Wales and the parallel 1998 Timbury Review of food-related scientific services in Scotland and the 1999 Turner and Gorsuch Review of Public Analyst services in Northern Ireland.
	Although not directly related to a review of the Public Analyst Service, in 2012 a thorough review of the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) Regulations 1990 was undertaken by the FSA, in collaboration with key UK stakeholders, resulting in a full public consultation of the options proposed(1). The new Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2013 came into force on 6 April 2013. The Sampling and Qualification Regulations stipulate qualifications an individual needs to possess in order to be appointed as a Public Analyst.
	(1)http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/consultations/consultations-england/2012/reviewfoodsafetysampqualregseng

Food: Inspections

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the suitability of systems of competitive tendering for contracts for food hygiene and food standards public analyst scientific services.

Anna Soubry: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	Responsibility for the suitability of systems used for competitive tendering for contracts for food hygiene and food standards public analyst scientific services lies with the local authority rather than the Food Standards Agency.

River Thames

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of recent changes in navigation charges levied by the Environment Agency on vessels on the River Thames and the comparative effects of such changes on the owners of larger and smaller vessels.

Richard Benyon: The recent change in navigation charges levied by the Environment Agency on privately owned boats on the River Thames followed consultation with customer representatives. It comprises an increased charge for 2013-14 of 4.6%, in accordance with the three-year charging plan of the consumer price index, plus 2%.
	The effect of this flat rate increase varies with the size of each boat. The charge is levied based on boat area (length by breadth) so the increase is proportionate to boat size.
	The Environment Agency has adjusted the price this year for the largest boats. It now pays 40% less than the normal charge for every square metre over 80 square metres. The Environment Agency has received positive feedback from customers about it. Owners of smaller boats accept the increase, although they do not welcome it. They have stated that they do not want the Environment Agency to adjust the charges to benefit larger boats without considering their charges too.
	DEFRA is considering transferring the Environment Agency navigations to the Canal and River Trust (CRT) subject to affordability and the agreement of the CRT's trustees. Although this is under consideration, it is not appropriate for the Environment Agency fundamentally to review and change its boat registration regime. This is something CRT would need to review.

Telephone Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  for each of the principal access numbers operated by (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible, what revenue has been retained by (i) the telephone provider for that line and (ii) his Department in each of the last three years;
	(2)  which telephone lines are operated by (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible for public inquiries or other services; what the (i) principal access number and (ii) telephone service provider is for each number; and which such lines (A) are free to the caller and (B) may incur a charge to the caller.

Richard Benyon: The information is as follows:
	Core DEFRA
	Core DEFRA operates the following telephone lines designated for public inquiries:
	
		
			  Telephone number 
			 DEFRA Helpline 08459 335577 
			 British Cattle Movement Tracing System(1) 0845 0501234 
			 British Cattle Movement Service (Wales)(1) 0845 0503456 
			 Livestock Identification Helpline 0845 0509876 
			 Compulsory Scrapie Flocks Scheme Helpline 0845 6014858 
			 Broiler Directive Registration Helpline 0845 6014858 
			 (1) The British Cattle Movement Service telephone numbers are shared between core DEFRA and the RPA. 
		
	
	All core DEFRA lines are provided by one of the following companies:
	BT;
	Serco;
	Azzurri; and
	Cable & Wireless.
	Calls to the Poultry Register Helpline will be free from most landlines but mobile phone providers may charge. All other lines will incur a charge to the caller.
	Core DEFRA retains no income from any telephone calls received from members of the public. All revenue is retained by the telephone companies providing the service. We have no knowledge of the service provider's revenue retention.
	Animal Health, Veterinary Laboratory Agency (AHVLA)
	
		
			  Telephone number 
			 Poultry Register Helpline 0800 6341112 
			 Register for Disease Alerts 0844 8849888 
			 National Fallen Stock Scheme 0845 0548888 
			 Pre 1996 Cattle Movements 0845 6014858 
			 Welfare in Transit Helpline 0845 6038395 
			 TSE Helpline 0845 6011367 
			 AHVLA Disease Outbreak Information Line 0844 8844600 
			 PETS Helpline 0870 2411710 
		
	
	All AHVLA lines are provided by one of the following companies:
	BT;
	Serco;
	Azzurri; and
	Cable & Wireless.
	AHVLA retains no income from any telephone calls received from members of the public. All revenue is retained by the telephone companies providing the service. We have no knowledge of the service provider's revenue retention.
	Rural Payments Agency (RPA)
	The RPA operates the following telephone lines designated for public inquiries:
	
		
			  Telephone number 
			 Customer Service Centre (CSC) 0845 6037777 
			 British Cattle Movement Service(1) (2)0845 0501234 
			 British Cattle Movement Service(1) (3)0845 0503456 
			 Cattle Tracing System (2)0845 0111212 
			 Cattle Tracing System (3)0845 0111213 
			 Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate 0845 6073224 
			 Fraud Line 0800 347347 
			 External Trade 0191 2265050 
			 Securities and Guarantees 0118 9531723 
			 Slaughter Schemes (4)0845 6037777 
			 (1 )The British Cattle Movement Service telephone numbers are shared between core DEFRA and the RPA. (2) English. (3) Welsh. (4) CSC number. 
		
	
	All RPA's telephone lines are provided by Cable & Wireless Worldwide.
	Calls to the Fraud Line will be free from most landlines but mobile phone providers may charge. All other lines will incur a charge to the caller.
	The following table provides the RPA's total revenue retention for each of the last three financial years. We have no knowledge of the service provider's revenue retention.
	
		
			 RPA revenue retention 
			 Financial year £ 
			 2010-11 (1)3,388.72 
			 2011-12 (1)5,059.13 
			 2012-13 0 
			 (1) + VAT. 
		
	
	Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA)
	Fera operates the following telephone lines designated for public inquiries:
	
		
			  Telephone number 
			 Plant Health Helpdesk 0844 2480071 
			 Badger Vaccine 0844 2480073 
			 International Food Safety Training Laboratory (IFSTL) 0300 1000326 
			 Customer Services Group (CSG) 0300 1000330 
			 Government Decontamination Service (GDS) Emergency 0845 8503513 
			 Government Decontamination Service (GDS) General 0845 0518486 
		
	
	All of these phone lines are provided by alternative networks, and all incur a charge to the caller.
	No revenue is retained by FERA for these telephone lines. We have no knowledge of the service provider's revenue retention.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Mel Stride: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he intends to answer question 148171, tabled on 12 March 2013 for answer on 14 March 2013.

David Heath: I answered the hon. Gentleman's question on 15 April 2013.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many allegations relating to the possession of indecent images have been made by (a) armed forces personnel and (b) civilian staff based in Iraq in each year since 2005; how many of these have (i) been referred for prosecution and (ii) resulted in a conviction; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many allegations relating to the possession of indecent images have been made by (a) armed forces personnel and (b) civilian staff based in Afghanistan in each year since 2005; how many of these have (i) been referred for prosecution and (ii) resulted in a conviction; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has no record of any allegations made by service personnel or civilian staff based in Iraq relating to the possession of indecent images in the period between the implementation of the Armed Forces Act 2006 on 1 November 2009 and 31 December 2012.
	The Ministry of Defence holds the following information on allegations made relating to the possession of indecent images in Afghanistan over the period 1 November 2009 and 31 December 2012:
	
		
			  Allegations made by service personnel 
			 2009 0 
			 2010 1 
			 2011 1 
			 2012 6 
			 Total 8 
		
	
	We have no record of any allegations made by civilian staff in this period.
	Information held on the above cases indicates the following outcomes:
	Two cases were not investigated because the complaint was not pursued.
	One case was investigated but did not result in that person being referred to a prosecuting authority under the Armed Forces Act 2006.
	Five cases are ongoing.

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff are employed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Cumbria; and what proportion of those staff are paid at or above the national level of the living wage.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 25 March 2013
	The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has no staff employed in Cumbria.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contingency plan is in place to fulfil maritime surveillance roles if Crowsnest is not operational by 2016.

Andrew Robathan: I refer the hon. Lady to my letter to the House of Commons Defence Committee on 28 January 2013. A copy of the letter can be found at the following link:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/defence/130128-Andrew-Robathan-MOD-to-Chair-followup.tif.pdf

MOD Ashchurch

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much investment there has been in buildings at the Ministry of Defence site at Ashchurch in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Mark Francois: holding answer 15 April 2013
	Over the last seven years the investment in Ashchurch is shown in the following table. This is exclusive of repair and maintenance and minor refurbishment work. Data prior to Financial year 2007-08 are not held.
	
		
			 Financial year Investment (£ million) 
			 2012-13 0 
			 2011-12 0 
			 2010-11 0 
			 2009-10 0 
			 2008-09 0.5 
			 2007-08 1.7 
			 2006-07 0

MOD Ashchurch

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the estimated cost of moving the operations carried out at Ashchurch to another base in terms of (a) the cost of physical movement, (b) extra training costs, (c) redundancy payments and (d) any other costs; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 15 April 2013
	The facilities at Ministry of Defence (MOD) site at Ashchurch are at the end of their life and parts of the site can no longer be used as a result of health and safety requirements. The facilities would need extensive renewal to continue to be operational effectively, while the vehicle numbers that the site supports are reducing as a result of the strategic defence and security review.
	The MOD is therefore reviewing a number of vehicle basing options and has identified opportunities for greater efficiency from relocating facilities rather than investing in the infrastructure at Ashchurch. The MOD will be withdrawing from the site entirely unless retention of a small number of specific buildings proves better value for money. It is too early at this time to provide further details of any associated costs.
	The MOD has a responsibility to gain the best value for money for the taxpayer and has identified the opportunity that MOD Ashchurch could be made available as development land, contributing to the Government's aim to make surplus public sector land available for housing, with the potential capacity for up to 2,100 new homes. A public consultation has been undertaken so that wider views and opinions can be taken into consideration for any future development.

Porton Down: Animal Experiments

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, the hon. Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne) of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 634W, on Porton Down: animal experiments, what the (a) species and (b) ages of the animals used for experiment at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down facility were.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 29 January 2013, Official Report, column 742W, to the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Mr Hancock).
	There is no Home Office requirement to return the ages of the animals, so this information is not recorded.

RAF Brize Norton

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the Atlas training programme at RAF Brize Norton.

Andrew Robathan: To date, contracts have been awarded with a total value of some £343 million for the provision of training infrastructure, synthetic training equipment and contractor support to the Atlas training programme at RAF Brize Norton. It is estimated that a further £77 million will be required to complete and sustain the training programme until 2030. These sums do not include RAF personnel costs or the costs of flying the Atlas aircraft for training purposes.

Rescue Services

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Ministry of Defence police inquiries into the abandoned search and rescue helicopter contract have been completed; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence police investigation into the search and rescue helicopter contract is currently at an advanced stage. It would therefore be inappropriate to disclose any information at this time.
	I will write to the right hon. Gentleman when the investigation is completed, with the information requested.
	Substantive answer from Mr Philip Dunne to Sir Alan Beith:
	I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 29th November 2012 (Official Report, column 462W) about the Ministry of Defence Police investigation into the Search and Rescue Helicopter contract. I apologise that it has taken so long to reply.
	I can confirm that the Ministry of Defence Police investigation has now ended. The police investigation, which was thorough, wide ranging and proportionate, concluded that no further police action was warranted.

PRIME MINISTER

Electoral Register

Jim Shannon: To ask the Prime Minister if he will introduce compulsory electoral registration.

Chloe Smith: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The Government believe that the act of registering to vote is a civic duty, but do not believe it is appropriate to criminalise people for not registering to vote.
	The existing criminal offence of not providing information to an electoral registration officer (ERO) when required to do so—for example, on a household canvass form—will remain under individual electoral registration.
	It is not currently an offence not to be registered in the UK, and this will not change under IER.
	Under IER, electoral registration officers will be able to issue a civil penalty when individuals fail to make an application when they are required to do so. This means that if an individual repeatedly refuses to make an application a registration officer can require them to make an application to register to vote. Failure to make an application at this stage could lead to a civil penalty being issued.
	There will be safeguards in place to ensure that only those who refuse repeated invitations can be fined, and registration officers will have to take specific steps to encourage an application, which we will set out in draft secondary legislation, before they can issue a fine.

Nepal

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Prime Minister whether he has any plans to visit Nepal in an official capacity.

David Cameron: Details of my engagements are announced as and when appropriate.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Asbestos

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what procedures are in place to check and monitor the presence of asbestos in the workplace.

Mark Hoban: The owner or person responsible for maintenance of a workplace is required to carry out an assessment to determine the presence, location, and condition of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), under regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (SI 2012 No. 632). A plan must then be prepared and put into effect to manage the risks from any ACMs present, including ongoing monitoring of their condition.

Asbestos

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have died from lung cancer contracted as a result of exposure to asbestos in (a) England and (b) Birmingham in each of the last two years.

Mark Hoban: Lung cancer deaths caused by asbestos are clinically indistinguishable from those caused by other agents such as tobacco smoke, and therefore cannot be directly enumerated. However, it is estimated that about the same number of lung cancer deaths due to asbestos occur each year as mesothelioma deaths, for which detailed statistics are available.
	Statistics for mesothelioma deaths in 2009 and 2010 (the latest two years for which data are available) suggest that there may have been approximately 2,000 deaths in England, and approximately 20 deaths in the Birmingham local authority area, due to asbestos-related lung cancer in each of these two years.

Computers

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers and (c) tablet devices his Department has purchased in the last two years.

Mark Hoban: The Department for Work and Pensions has contractual arrangements under which it leases desktop and laptop devices from its IT suppliers.
	However, the Department purchased 23 laptops, eight desktop computers and 20 tablets during 2012-13 for pilots and trial purposes to meet non-standard technical and/or operational needs.

Credit Unions

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to develop credit unions.

Steve Webb: On 27 June 2012, it was announced that the Government will take forward the findings of the Feasibility Study. In particular, DWP has plans to make a further investment in credit unions, subject to a contracting process.
	Our aim is to support the credit union sector to provide financial services for up to 1 million more consumers on lower incomes in a way that will enable credit unions to modernise, expand and become financially sustainable.
	I can confirm that we gave details of our preferred supplier to deliver credit union expansion to the bidding organisations on 31 January. Subject to satisfactory outcomes to discussions with the preferred supplier, we are likely to be in a position to announce the award of the contract in March.

Employment and Support Allowance: Scotland

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many fixed-length sanctions were imposed on employment and support allowance claimants in Scotland in each month from December 2012 to March 2013.

Mark Hoban: The information as requested is not readily available.
	The sanctions regime for employment support allowance (ESA) claimants in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) changed from the beginning of December 2012.
	DWP is aiming to publish the first set of statistics for the new ESA sanctions regime by August 2013. These statistics have been delayed from a May release to allow the new regime to bed-in and to allow sufficient quality assurance.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will consider excluding blind and partially-sighted people from the changes to housing benefit eligibility in respect of the spare room subsidy.

Steve Webb: We carefully considered whether it would be feasible to develop exemptions for specific groups. However, it was not possible to design exemptions that could be defined precisely enough in legislation to be simple and efficient to administer.
	Consequently, we have announced the addition of £25 million to the Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) budget from 2013-14. This is specifically intended to support disabled people living in significantly adapted accommodation, including people who are blind or partially-sighted.
	The measure will, however, be monitored and evaluated over a two-year period from April 2013. Initial findings will be available in 2014 and the final report will be released in late 2015.

Jobcentre Plus

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Jobcentre Plus facilities there are in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.

Mark Hoban: The information is as follows:
	(a) Glasgow North West constituency is served by two jobcentres. There are (b) 14 serving Glasgow, (c) 94 serving Scotland and (d) 772 covering Great Britain.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether jobseeker’s allowance claimants will experience a loss of benefit payments if they do not accept an offer of employment on a zero-hours contract.

Mark Hoban: Jobseeker’s allowance claimants cannot face sanctions for turning down the offer of a zero- hours contract.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Scotland

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many fixed-length sanctions of (a) high, (b) medium and (c) low level were imposed on jobseeker's allowance claimants in Scotland in each month from October 2012 to March 2013;
	(2)  what proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants in Scotland were referred to the stricter benefit regime in each month from October 2012 to March 2013;
	(3)  how many sanctions were applied to jobseeker's allowance claimants by each jobcentre in Scotland in each month from October 2012 to February 2013.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not currently available.
	The official statistics published on the Tabulation Tool contain JSA sanctions and disallowances up to and including 21 October 2012. After this date, new regulations introduced a regime of fixed period sanctions, which replaced the existing sanction rules and moved claimants closer to the sanction regime planned for universal credit in 2013.
	We aim to publish the statistics on this new regime in May 2013 and on a quarterly basis thereafter.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Scotland

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Scotland applied for a hardship payment due to being sanctioned in each month from April 2012 to March 2013.

Mark Hoban: Data on hardship payments at this geographical level are unavailable.

Pensioners: Poverty

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate how many pensioners were living on an income of below 40% of median household earnings in each year since 2010.

Steve Webb: We estimate that out of 11.7 million pensioners 0.5 million were living on an income of below 40% contemporary household income, after housing costs, in 2010-11.
	This estimate is based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the 2010-11 Family Resources Survey (FRS). This is the most recent data source available.
	The estimate uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, to identify those with less than 40% median contemporary household income. Figures have been presented on an after-housing-cost basis.
	All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Numbers of pensioners have been rounded to the nearest 100,000.

Personal Independence Payment

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of 13 November 2012, Official Report, column 75WH, on personal independence payment, what steps he has taken to increase the number of mental and cognitive champions in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Esther McVey: The contracts between the Department for Work and Pensions and the personal independence payment assessment providers, Atos and Capita, stipulate that they must provide mental function champions to give advice and support to health professionals on health conditions and disabilities affecting mental, cognitive, intellectual and behavioural function. These mental function champions will be for the PIP contract and will therefore be in addition to the mental function champions currently in post in Scotland and the rest of the UK to provide advice to health-care professionals conducting work capability assessments.

Personal Independence Payment

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he will take to hold assessors to account in the event that personal independence payment applicants were given an incorrect, poor assessment resulting in them receiving an inappropriate recommendation.

Esther McVey: All personal independence payment health professionals must go through a comprehensive training programme and pass an assessment of competence before they can carry out assessments. In addition, they must be approved by the Department's chief medical adviser. A programme of audit will confirm individual health professionals continue to meet these standards.
	Where a health professional's advice is of poor quality and could result in an incorrect decision, the case will fail the audit activity. Where assessors fall below the required standards and do not improve, processes are in place to revoke their approval to carry out assessments.
	In addition, assessment providers must conform to a rigorous set of performance measures regarding the quality of advice. If the provider fails to deliver against these measures, agreed service credits will be applied. Ultimately the Department has the right to terminate the contract if there is sustained underperformance in a range of areas.

Personal Independence Payment

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, of 16 November 2011, House of Lords,Official Report, column GC263, what assessment his Department has made of whether (a) Atos and (b) Capita are providing sufficient training in (i) mental, intellectual and cognitive impairments and (ii) autistic spectrum disorders for health professionals who will be carrying out the assessment for the personal independence payment.

Esther McVey: The health professionals who will be carrying out the assessments for personal independence payment will have a broad training in disability analysis, as well as training in specific conditions. This will include training in mental, intellectual and cognitive impairments, and autistic spectrum disorders. The Department for Work and Pensions has reviewed Atos's training materials and is content with them. The Department is currently reviewing Capita's training materials.

Social Security Benefits: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in Halton constituency have had their benefit sanctioned in each month since April 2012.

Mark Hoban: The information as requested is not readily available for jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) and income support lone parent (ISLP) claimants to 21 October 2012 and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
	The official statistics published on the tabulation tool contain JSA sanctions and disallowances up to and including 21 October 2012. After this date, new regulations introduced a regime of fixed-period sanctions, which replaced the existing sanction rules and moved claimants closer to the sanction regime planned for universal credit in 2013.
	We aim to publish the statistics on this new regime in May 2013 and on a quarterly basis thereafter.
	The information as requested is also not readily available for employment support allowance (ESA) claimants.
	The sanctions regime for ESA claimants in the work-related activity group (WRAG) changed from the beginning of December 2012. As a result of the changes to the regime, the Department reviewed its methodology for publishing ESA sanctions official statistics to ensure the publication remains relevant while also seeking to maintain a consistent time series.
	In comparing methodologies to produce statistics relating to the previous sanctions regime with the new regime, an error was discovered, leading to double counting of some sanctions. For this reason, departmental statisticians decided to suspend publication of ESA sanctions statistics based on the current method. Therefore the final set of official statistics relating to the previous sanctions regime, due for publication in February 2013, was cancelled.
	The Department is aiming to publish the first set of statistics for the new ESA sanctions regime by August 2013 alongside a revised historical series and a working paper explaining the differences between the methodologies. These statistics have been delayed from a May release to allow the new regime to bed-in and to allow sufficient quality assurance of the new methodology.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2013, Official Report, column 658W, on telephone services, whether a UK landline number beginning with 01, 02 or 03 is publicly available as an alternative to the 0800 and 0845 numbers in use by his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not have any UK landline number beginning with 01, 02 or 03 that is publicly available as an alternative to the 0800 and 0845 numbers.
	The Department's numbering policy is kept under review, taking account of any changes to the cost of calling 0845 numbers. Depending on the service provider and the specific contract or call plan in place, many callers would currently pay more to contact the DWP if 0845 services were replaced with 03 numbers. As a result, any change to the policy will need careful consideration.
	The DWP has responded to Ofcom's proposals for the 0845 number range and we await its final report, which is due in April 2013. Once received, we will assess the impact on the costs of calls to our 0800 and 0845 numbers. For information, the proposals do not include any requirement for organisations to replace 0845 numbers. More information on the consultation, including the DWP's response, is available via Ofcom's website:
	www.ofcom.org.uk

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Lobbying

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1057W, on lobbying, if he will provide an estimate of the amount of time he will need to continue to consider the evidence submitted on the proposed statutory register of lobbyists; what the reasons are for the time taken to consider the evidence thus far; and when he plans to publish the Government's views.

Chloe Smith: As the response to the Government's consultation showed, introducing a statutory register of lobbyists is a complex issue, and it is vital that we take the time to get it right. We will publish our proposals in due course.

TREASURY

Charities

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the contribution of charities is accounted for in GDP figures.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Chancellor for the Exchequer how the contribution of charities is accounted for in GDP figures. (150096)
	The economic activity of charities is included within the Not for Profit Institutions Serving Households sector of National Accounts (known as NPISH). Charities are the largest component of the NPISH sector; other components include trade unions, political parties, religious organisations, friendly and mutual societies and higher and further education institutions (including universities).
	The contribution of charities is included in the NPISH final consumption expenditure figures which are included in the expenditure measure of GDP. The latest growth figures for NPISH within GDP can be seen in the tables in appendix B of the Second Estimate of GDP, Q4 2012.

Corporation Tax: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies based in Scotland paid corporation tax at the (a) main rate and (b) small profits rate in the most recent period for which figures are available.

David Gauke: The answer is given in terms of the number of companies registered in Scotland who paid corporation tax in the financial year 2010-11. This may be different from the location where the companies' activity takes place. This is the latest information available.
	For accounting periods ending in 2010-11:
	
		
			  Number of companies to the nearest 100 
			  Small profits rate Marginal rate Main rate 
			 Scotland 51,200 2,400 2,200 
			 Notes: 1. Small Profits Rate = 21% and Main Rate 28%. 2. For the purpose of allocating a company to Scotland, the postcode of the company's registered office has been used. This may not relate to where all of a company's activity takes place. It will also not reflect all companies that carry on activities in Scotland. 3. For the purpose of this analysis, HMRC define the terms as follows: (a) CT liabilities are considered to be accrued in the financial year of the end date of the company's accounting period, (b) Small Profits Rate: Since April 2010, the lower rate of corporation tax has been called the Small Profits Rate (SPR) rather than Small Companies' Rate (SCR). This makes clear that it is the size of the profits, rather than the size of the company, which determines the tax rate to be applied, (c) Marginal Relief: This can be claimed by companies with taxable profits between the lower and upper limits, to enable a smooth transition between the small profits rate and the main rate of CT. (d) Main Rate: The rate of corporation tax paid by companies with profits above the lower limit. Companies with profits between the lower and upper limit are taxed at main rate but can usually claim Marginal Relief. 4. Figures are based on companies only and exclude unincorporated businesses. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many civil servants in his Department have been subject to non-disclosure agreements in each year since 2010.

Sajid Javid: The Treasury has used a small number of compromise agreements that have contained confidentiality clauses since 2010. The breakdown of use of these is as follows:
	
		
			  Compromise agreements containing confidentiality clauses 
			 2010 (1)— 
			 2011 (1)— 
			 2012 (1)— 
			 2013 0 
			 (1) Fewer than 5 
		
	
	It is the Treasury's policy not to release full details relating to numbers of staff fewer than five. HM Treasury is a small department and most staff are based in a single building. We consider therefore that disclosing such information would give rise to a risk that named individuals might be readily identified.
	Any confidentiality clause regarding the existence, negotiation and terms of the settlement agreement is qualified and will have referred to certain exceptions including where disclosures are required by law. Legal advice is sought on the wording of confidentiality clauses in each instance.

Income Tax

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of people with taxable incomes of £1 million per annum in each parliamentary constituency.

David Gauke: Numbers of UK taxpayers with total income of £1 million and over are published in Table 2.5 ‘Income tax liabilities, by income range, 2010-11 to 2012-13’ available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/table2-5.pdf
	These estimates are based on Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) data for 2010-11.
	A breakdown of these figures is not published.
	Regional breakdowns of taxpayer numbers by marginal rate of tax, gender and age are available in Table 2.2 ‘Number of individual income taxpayers by marginal rate, gender and age, by country and region’:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/table2-2.pdf

Poverty: Children

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with child poverty charities on the effects of Budget 2013 on the number of children in poverty.

Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers engage with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
	The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations. This is available online at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm
	Budget 2013 took action to support families and make the tax and welfare system fairer: including further increasing the income tax personal allowance to take 2.7 million people on low incomes out of tax altogether and cancelling the increase in fuel duty planned for September 2013.
	The Government believe looking at income in isolation is not a helpful measure to track progress towards its target of eradicating child poverty.
	This is why we consulted on better measures of child poverty in November 2012. The consultation closed in February, we are currently considering more than 250 responses to the consultation and will publish our response in the summer.

VAT: Veterinary Services

Tom Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of revenue accrued to the Exchequer as a result of VAT on veterinary bills in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Gauke: No estimate has been made of the level of revenue accrued to the Exchequer as a result of VAT on veterinary bills.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria are used in (a) her Department and (b) each public body for which she is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

Michael Penning: Staff employed by my Department are on Ministry of Justice (MOJ) terms and conditions of service. The Department, therefore, operates the MOJ Reward and Recognition Scheme in which there are two categories of award: to qualify for the first there must be evidence of sustained excellent contribution over a period of not less than six months, with evidence of continuous working at that level. Awards in this category can attract payments of between £100 and £500. To qualify for the second category, there must be evidence of an exceptional contribution relating to a one-off project or task that is finite in nature. Such awards are in the form of a one-off, non-consolidated and non-pensionable payment of up to £100 which is subject to tax and insurance.
	In addition, and again in line with MOJ terms and conditions, a member of staff who warrants an outstanding rating under the annual appraisal process may be entitled to a one-off non-consolidated performance bonus. Qualifying for such a rating requires evidence of having exceeded objectives and performance/behavioural expectations throughout the 12-month appraisal period. Payment amounts are determined by grade and for the 2011-12 reporting year were as follows: Band A: £1,500; Band B: £1,400; Band C: £1,300; and Band D: £1,200.
	My Department has two non-departmental public bodies—the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body—the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As such bodies are independent of Government, my hon. Friend may wish to write to the Commissions direct on these matters:
	
		
			 ALB Status Contact details 
			 Parades Commission for Northern Ireland Executive NDPB Info@paradescommission. org 
			 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Executive NDPB information@nihrc.org 
			 Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland Advisory NDPB bcni@belfast.org.uk

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Fireworks: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Attorney-General how many prosecutions relating to the misuse of fireworks were brought in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Oliver Heald: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences, in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of cases or defendants prosecuted. A single defendant may be prosecuted for multiple offences.
	Offences relating to the misuse of fireworks can be prosecuted under section 80 of the Explosives Act 1875 (throw or light a firework in a highway, street or public place), Regulation 7 of the Fireworks Regulations 2004 (breach a fireworks curfew), section 131 and section 161 of Highways Act 1980 (discharge a firework within 50 foot of a public highway), section 28 of the Town and Police Clauses Act 1847 (throw a firework in the street) and section 2 of the Football (Offences) Act 1991 (throw a missile onto a football pitch or adjacent area).
	The following table shows, in each of the last five years, the number of offences charged in Lancashire for the misuse of fireworks:
	
		
			 Number 
			   2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Explosives Act 1875 (80) Throw fireworks in highway/street/public place 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Explosives Act 1875 (80) Fire fireworks in a street 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Fireworks Regulations 2004(7(1)) Use adult firework during night hours 2 0 0 0 0 
			 Football (Offences) Act 1991 (2 and 5) Throw a missile onto a football playing area 1 2 3 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Football (Offences) Act 1991 (2 and 5) Throw missile at area adjacent to pitch 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Highways Act 1980 (161(2)(b)) Discharge firework within 50 feet of highway 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Town Police Clauses Act 1847 (28) Throw firework in the street 0 0 2 0 0 
		
	
	Crown Prosecution Service data are not recorded on the basis of constituency areas but on the basis of 42 geographically separate police force areas. Police force area boundaries are not necessarily coterminous with constituency boundaries. It is not therefore possible to ascertain, from the central record of offences data held by the CPS, the constituency area in which the offences were committed.
	Some misuse of fireworks offences can be dealt with by the police by way of a penalty notice for disorder offering the opportunity for an offender to discharge any liability by paying a penalty on the spot thus avoiding an appearance at or other method of disposal. These figures should therefore not be considered complete or indicative of the number of offences of misusing fireworks in the area.

Recruitment

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Attorney-General how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on advertising job vacancies in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007, (d) 2008 and (e) 2009.

Oliver Heald: The information requested is contained in the following table:
	
		
			 Spending on advertising job vacancies by financial year 
			 £ 
			 Department 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 Treasury Solicitor's Department(1) 125,611 132,891 152,617 136,694 27,748 
			 Serious Fraud Office 42,236 51,259 94,851 60,025 12,199 
			 Crown Prosecution Service 356,845 517,298 338,525 413,814 254,290 
			 (1) TSol data include expenditure incurred by the Attorney-General's Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.

TRANSPORT

Bicycles: Hire Services

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to support public cycle hire schemes outside of London.

Norman Baker: We are already supporting cycle hire schemes through both the £600 million Local Sustainable Transport Fund and the £14.5 million fund made available to Train Operating Companies to improve cycle facilities at stations.

Biofuels

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to encourage a sustainable domestic biodiesel industry in the UK;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to discourage the import of ethanol for use as a transport fuel.

Norman Baker: The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) was introduced in 2008 as a scheme to reduce carbon emissions and promote the supply of sustainable biofuels. The volume of biofuel supplied in the UK has increased from 1,284 million litres in its first year (2008/09) to 1,635 million litres in obligation year 4 (2011/12).
	Amendments to the RTFO in December 2011 ensured that only biofuels meeting mandatory sustainability criteria are eligible for Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) and provided extra support to waste-derived biofuels through the award of two RTFCs per litre of waste-derived biofuel. This recognises that waste-derived biofuel feedstocks tend to have both higher greenhouse gas savings and less risk of indirect effects. Since December 2011 data reported to the RTFO Administrator suggests that more than 85% of biodiesel made from UK feedstock has been produced from waste and eligible for double certificates.
	Later this year we will assess the available data and other evidence regarding the impact of the changes made to the RTFO in December 2011. We will consider what, if any, amendments are needed to the RTFO on the basis of that evidence.
	With regard to imports of ethanol, I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her of 17 December 2012, Official Report, columns 542-3W.

Bus Services: Northern Ireland

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive on its review of bus operator licensing with respect to the treatment of community transport under EU regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: Department for Transport Ministers have not had any discussions with Northern Ireland Ministers about the Northern Ireland Executive's review of bus operator licensing.

Driving: Licensing

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold discussions with the (a) Ministry of Justice and (b) Association of Chief Police Officers to work with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to provide 24-hour cover to enable the suspension with immediate effect of the licence of a driver deemed incapable of driving; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: Following representations made by the hon. Gentleman, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) worked closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers to speed up the revocation of a driving licence where vision problems have been demonstrated.
	The police now notify DVLA through a priority electronic mail facility and the licence revocation notices are being issued with 24 hours of receipt of the notification. Police notifications of other medical conditions are also fast tracked for immediate consideration.

Insurance

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what outcomes were agreed at the insurance industry meeting held on Monday 25 March 2013; and how any such outcomes will be taken forward.

Stephen Hammond: The Government intend to issue a Green Paper later in the spring looking at a range of options for improving the safety of newly-qualified drivers and hold a further industry meeting following publication of that paper.

M6: Heysham

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely effects on the local economy of the new M6 Heysham link road.

Norman Baker: Lancashire county council, the scheme’s promoter, will shortly be submitting a bid for full (final) approval which will contain an assessment of the effects on the local economy of the new M6 Heysham link road. This will be considered along with other information before a decision on the scheme is taken.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the budget was for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year since its creation.

Stephen Hammond: The budget for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, for each year where information is readily available, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £000 
			 2012-13 162,254 
			 2011-12((a)) 159,057 
			 2010-11 143,687 
			 2009-10((b)) 145,242 
			 2008-09((a)) 137,430 
			 2007-08((b)) 140,087 
			 2006-07((b)) 130,526 
			 2005-06((b)) 127,309 
			 2004-05((b)) 125,236 
		
	
	
		
			 2003-04((b)) 121,763 
			 2002-03((b)) 117,218 
			 2001-02((c)) 107,017 
			 2000-01((b)) 99,130 
			 1999-2000 91,494 
			 Note: All figures are taken from the published main estimates on the HM Treasury website, with the exception of: ((a)) taken from the published winter supplementaries, also available on the website. ((b)) taken from the published spring supplementaries, also available on the website. ((c)) In 2001-02, the MCA was not shown as a separate agency within the published main estimate or supplementaries. This figure is taken from the MCA’s internally allocated budget.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will publish on his Department's website advice to motorists and repairers on the removal of factory-fitted diesel particulate filters from vehicles;
	(2)  how many enquiries from motorists and repairers his Department has received on the removal or absence of factory-fitted diesel particulate filters in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Stephen Hammond: The Department and its agencies have received approximately 240 inquiries on the removal of particulate filters over the last 12 months.
	This topic is one of a very large number on which the Department regularly provides advice to businesses and to the public. The Department's officials have been asked to ensure that suitable advice is available on the Government website.

Railways: North West

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the statement of 26 March 2013, Official Report, columns 1487-99, on rail franchising, if he will ensure that the franchise extensions for the TransPennine and Northern franchises will be negotiated on the basis of at least maintaining the current level of service on the Manchester Airport to Lancaster to Barrow-in-Furness route.

Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport has a duty to secure the best deal for both the passenger and the tax payer when negotiating with the incumbent operators. Taking into consideration value for money and affordability; the primary aim is to ensure that passengers are not adversely impacted and that current service levels are protected as far as possible.

Rescue Services: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect on response times to emergencies in Cumbrian mountains or coastline of the withdrawal of air-sea rescue helicopters from RAF Boulmer.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the Assurance Review of Search and Rescue Helicopter Basing. This document is available on the DFT website.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-search-and-rescue-helicopter-service

Road Signs and Markings

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department will consider including on matrix signs displaying information about poor visibility an instruction to drivers to use headlights; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The Highways Agency is in the process of updating its variable signs and signals policy to make additional variable message sign legends available to cover the use of headlights in circumstances where adverse weather reduces visibility.

Roads: Accidents

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to answer of 19 March 2013, Official Report, column 574W, on deaths: accidents: road, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in deaths of (a) main roads and (b) B roads in 2010-11.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer from the then Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning), on 9 July 2012, Official Report, columns 73-74W.
	Additional information is available on pages 5-6 of Reported Road Casualties Great Britain 2011: Overview and trends in reported road casualties, which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/9274/rrcgb2011-01.pdf

Silverdale Station

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide funding to increase rail services to Silverdale station in Lancashire.

Simon Burns: Under current plans, stakeholders will have an opportunity to consult with the Department on passenger services ahead of the Northern and Transpennine Express refranchising planned for February 2016. In the short term, it is for train operators and local stakeholders to determine if there is a business case that justifies making additional calls at Silverdale.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effect that a minimum unit price for alcohol would have on sales of different types of alcohol;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the effect that a minimum unit price for alcohol would have on the profits of (a) large retailers and (b) small and medium-sized retailers;
	(3)  whether she has made an assessment of the potential effectiveness of asking members of the public to report non-compliant retailers in order to enforce a minimum unit price for alcohol.

Jeremy Browne: We have considered compliance and monitoring as part of the impact assessment (IA) process for alcohol minimum unit pricing. This IA also considered the impact on sales of different types of alcohol and the impact on the alcohol industry including large, medium and small retailers.
	The pre-consultation IA on alcohol minimum unit pricing is placed in the House Library and can be accessed at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/alcohol-consultation/ia-minimum-unit-pricing?view=Binary
	The consultation has now closed and we will be .publishing a response in due course.

Asylum: Pregnant Women

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the dispersal of pregnant women seeking asylum; and what assessment she has made of whether the policy on dispersal represents an efficient use of NHS resources;
	(2)  what recent assessment she has made of the practice of dispersing pregnant women seeking asylum; and what steps she has taken to ensure the welfare of such women.

Mark Harper: There have been no discussions at ministerial level. Officials have discussed the issue.
	The policy on providing accommodation to pregnant asylum seekers is regularly reviewed in consultation with refugee and maternity groups that have an interest in the issue. The majority of pregnant asylum seekers who become homeless are placed in an “Initial Accommodation Centre”, where there are medical staff on site. An assessment is then made of their individual circumstances and suitable longer term (“dispersal”) accommodation identified. The longer term accommodation is generally provided outside London and the south-east of England, but each case is considered individually and exceptions are made where appropriate.
	No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the policy on NHS resources. However, part of the overall rationale for the dispersal policy is to relieve the pressure on public services in London and the south-east.

Crime Prevention: Drugs

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the What Works Centre for Crime Reduction will be studying evidence relating to drugs policy.

Jeremy Browne: The What Works Centre for Crime Reduction will review robust evidence of the impact of crime reduction interventions, which may include interventions to tackle drug misuse.

Demonstrations

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has made a public response to the concerns recently raised by the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, with regards to the use by private companies of civil injunctions, under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, to stop peaceful protests; and what her assessment is of those concerns.

Helen Grant: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
	The Government have not responded to the preliminary conclusions and recommendations regarding the use of civil injunctions made in the press statement issued by the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Maina Kiai, on 23 January 2013 at the end of his 10 day official visit to the United Kingdom to assess the situation of the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association in the United Kingdom.
	The Government remain committed to the European Convention on Human Rights and to ensuring these rights continue to be enshrined in UK law, including the rights to' freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and will carefully consider Mr Kiai's final report when it is published.

Deportation: EU Nationals

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many EU nationals were deported from the UK in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: The following table provides the total number of enforced removals for nationals of the rest of the EU, in each year from 2008 to 2012:
	
		
			 Enforced removals for nationals of the EU(1), 2008-12 
			  Enforced removals(2,3) 
			 2008 642 
			 2009 768 
			 2010 963 
			 2011(4) 1,293 
			 2012(4) 1,726 
			 (1) Nationals of the rest of the EU consists of 26 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. (2) Enforced removals are where it has been established that a person has breached UK immigration laws and has no valid leave to remain within the United Kingdom. (3) Removals are recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (4) Provisional figures. Figures may be revised later due to data cleansing exercises that take place after the extracts are taken. 
		
	
	Deportations contribute to published enforced removals statistics which are either following a criminal conviction (foreign national offenders) or when it is judged that a person's removal from the UK is conducive to the public good; the deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. It is not possible to separately identify deportations from enforced removals.
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK and on persons refused entry to the United Kingdom within Immigration Statistics. The data on removals and voluntary departures by type are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: October-December 2012, tables rv.03 and rv.03.q from the Library of the House and from GOV.UK on the statistics web pages at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departmentspercent5Bpercent5D=home-office&publication_filter_option=statistics

Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants in her Department have been subject to non-disclosure agreements in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: We have taken “non-disclosure agreements” to mean compromise agreements between the Department and individuals members of staff.
	These agreements may contain a non-disclosure clause which prevents the individual from disclosing or discussing the existence, negotiation and terms of the settlement. The Home Office always considers whether such clauses are appropriate and necessary and always ensures that non-disclosure clauses allow disclosure for business needs and the requirements of law, including accountability to Parliament.
	The following number of civil servants in the Home Office signed settlement agreements, compromise agreements which contain a non-disclosure clause, in the last three years:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2010 3 
			 2011 3 
			 2012 6 
			 2013 0 
			 Total 12 
		
	
	The HR Litigation team has records of compromise agreements from 2010 for UK Border Agency and Border Force, from October 2010 for Home Office HQ and from April 2011 for the Identity and Passport Service (IPS); the latter two dates are when the HR Litigation team took over litigation work for these business areas. No central records are held for Home Office HQ and IPS before this time and for other Home Office agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Domestic Violence

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has conducted research on any relationship between rates of domestic violence and (a) the enactment of the smoking ban and (b) changes in licensing legislation to allow longer drinking hours.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office has not conducted any research on the relationship between rates of domestic violence and the enactment of the smoking ban, or on the relationship between domestic violence and changes in alcohol licensing legislation.

Drugs: Misuse

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the recommendations made by the UK Drug Policy Commission in its report, How to Make Drug Policy Better; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the recommendations made on page 42 of the UK Drug Policy Commission report, How to Make Drug Policy Better, published in December 2012 for analysing and disseminating evidence and for research co-ordination and formal scrutiny of policy.

Jeremy Browne: The Government remain committed to using the best available evidence. In addition to the advice provided by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), we liaise with relevant research councils to encourage the funding of new research. Individual Government Departments take responsibility for gathering the evidence needed to inform their policies, drawing on the specific expertise from within the Departments and from outside. This work is brought together through the cross-government Drug Strategy Research Group.
	Our approach is working. Drug usage remain at its lowest level since measurement began in 1996 and people going into treatment today are more likely to free themselves from dependency than ever before.
	The Government have agreed to undertake an international study to examine different approaches to drug policy in other countries, including Portugal, and we are committed to evaluating the long-term effectiveness and value for money of the Drug Strategy 2010.

Entry Clearances

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether commission-based pay counts towards the calculation of income for the purpose of assessing eligibility to sponsor a partner’s visa application.

Mark Harper: Under paragraph 18(b) of appendix FM-SE to the immigration rules, commission-based pay from employment can be counted as income towards the minimum income threshold requirement in a partner visa application.

Entry Clearances: Married People

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average waiting time for processing initial decisions on marriage visas for non EU spouses was in each quarter of 2011 and 2012.

Mark Harper: holding answer 15 April 2013
	The information you have requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Non-EU spouse marriage visa application processing times, January 2011 to December 2012 
			 Despatch date Average processing time (days) 
			 2011  
			 January to March 37 
		
	
	
		
			 April to June 32 
			 July to September 34 
			 October to December 26 
			   
			 2012  
			 January to March 28 
			 April to June 35 
			 July to September 53 
			 October to December 66 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. Figures relate to main applicants and dependants. 3. Figures relate to non-EU spouse marriage visa applications despatched between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2012. 4. Processing time is based on external customer service working days. 5. Data generated on 3 April 2013. 
		
	
	The service standards for settlement visas are to decide 95% of applications within 12 weeks of the application date, and 100% within 24 weeks. Marriage applications make up the majority of settlement applications that are considered out-of-country.
	The immigration rules relating to marriage applications changed in July 2012. This caused a larger than expected spike in applications, which resulted in the increase in average waiting times in the table. Service standards will be achieved again by the summer. The Home Office publishes performance against service standards routinely, as part of its commitment to transparency. The next publication is due for release on 23 May 2013 and will cover the period January to March 2013.

G4S

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were employed on zero-hours contracts by G4S during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games.

James Brokenshire: The contract for venue security was between the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and G4S. The Home Office does not hold information about the number of people employed by G4S for the 2012 Games on zero-hours contracts.

Immigrants: English Language

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what English language training will be made available to leave to remain applicants after 28 October 2013.

Mark Harper: From 28 October 2013, applicants for indefinite leave to remain in the UK or naturalisation as British citizens will be required to pass the Life in the UK test and have an intermediate level English language speaking and listening qualification. Details of the acceptable qualifications are contained in the Statement of Intent “Knowledge of language and life in the UK for settlement and naturalisation”, which was published on 8 April 2013 and is available in the House Library and at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/knowledge-of-language-and-life-in-the-uk-for-settlement-and-naturalisation-statement-of-intent
	There is a wide range of English language tuition already available within the UK from private and public sector providers. There are no plans to provide additional Government-funded tuition.

Offences Against Children

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will provide guidance to chief constables on the investigation and prosecution of adults who entice vulnerable young people with the provision of drugs and the aim of sexual exploitation; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: The Government action plan on child sexual exploitation (CSE) includes a number of measures to protect children at risk and prosecute perpetrators of CSE. As part of this work, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) are developing guidance to improve investigation of CSE to tackle offending behaviour. This is delivered through professional investigation, effective identification and targeting of perpetrators (including potential perpetrators) and robust offender management.
	Furthermore, the Crown Prosecution Service are working jointly with ACPO to produce one overarching and agreed approach to investigation and prosecution of sexual offences to be applicable in all police forces.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used in (a) her Department and (b) each public body for which she is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

James Brokenshire: There are two types of reward schemes giving officials access to non-consolidated performance payments: one-off non-consolidated end-of-year performance-related payments and in-year special one-off non- consolidated payments.
	One-off non-consolidated end-of-year performance-related payments are warded to individuals below the senior civil service who have made an exceptional contribution throughout the year. This is linked to the annual appraisal process.
	Special in-year non-consolidated payments can be paid to staff below the senior civil service at any time during the year for outstanding achievement on a particular project, piece of work or in specific difficult circumstances. These are made following line manager recommendation and are approved at senior management level.
	The Home Office, its agencies and public bodies all operate reward schemes giving access to non-consolidated performance payments based on the above criteria.
	Arrangements for senior civil servants pay and bonuses are determined centrally by the Cabinet Office, following recommendations from the independent Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB). The Department adheres to Cabinet Office guidelines in determining the criteria used for payment of one-off non-consolidated performance awards.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) first and (b) last date for employment in the UK is for the 2013 seasonal agricultural workers scheme.

Mark Harper: The first date for employment of a participant in the 2013 seasonal agricultural workers’ scheme was 1 January 2013 and the last date for issuing a card to a participant is 31 December 2013.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa overstays there were for participants in the seasonal agricultural workers scheme in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Mark Harper: None. Since 1 January 2008, the seasonal agricultural workers’ scheme has only been open to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania. Romanian and Bulgarian nationals do not require a visa or permission, under the immigration rules, to enter or remain in the UK. Therefore, participants in the scheme who remain in the UK beyond the expiry of their work card are not considered to be visa overstayers.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many seasonal agricultural workers scheme places have been registered for 2013; how many such registrations are made for (a) Bulgarians, (b) Romanians, (c) Ukrainians, (d) Moldovans and (e) other nationalities; and how many of the total number of vacancies have been advertised in job centres.

Mark Harper: The seasonal agricultural workers scheme (SAWS) allows farmers and growers in the UK to recruit low-skilled workers from Romania and Bulgaria to do short-term agricultural work and from 1 January 2008, it has only been open to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania. The annual quota for 2013 is 21,250 places. Nationality figures for 2013 are not yet published. There is no requirement for operators to advertise vacancies in the job centre prior to issuing work cards.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were employed by her Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Mark Harper: The number of paid civil servants (full-time equivalent (FTE)) at each grade on 31 December of each year between 2008 and 2012 is provided for the Home Office in the following table:
	
		
			 Civil servant headcount (full-time equivalent) in the Home Office December 2008 to December 2012 by current grade 
			 Home Office Headcount (FTE) 
			 Grade equivalency 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 1. AA 2,198.14 2,178.19 2,140.71 1,705.28 1,515.51 
			 2. AO 6,296.17 6,104.00 7,089.34 6,355.14 5,791.94 
			 3. EO 8,554.24 8,672.09 10,517.64 9,341.77 9,532.72 
		
	
	
		
			 4. HEO 3,592.41 3,799.99 4,042.26 3,706.39 3,661.99 
			 5. SEO 1,863.22 2,090.60 2,206.97 1,967.25 2,135.14 
			 6. G7 941.41 1,120.03 1,167.95 1,121.34 1,296.39 
			 7. G6 372:32 458.05 462.73 437.88 476.86 
			 8. SCS 210.73 234.01 209.98 208.56 212.76 
			 9. Not known 1.00 3.00 — — 1.00 
			 Total 24,029.64 24,659.95 27,837.59 24,843.61 24,624.30 
			 Notes: 1. Extract dates: 1 January for each of the years included. 2. Periods covered: data are based on current, paid staff as at 31 December for each year. Grade equivalency refers to the grade of the employee as at 31 December 2012. 3. Employee coverage: figures given are headcount (full-time equivalent) for all current paid civil servants. 4. Transparency agenda considerations: the definition of employee coverage is consistent with that used in the Department's Workforce Management Information monthly return to Cabinet Office and the Quarterly Public Sector. 5. Organisational coverage: data provided include Home Office Headquarters and the executive agencies. For December 2008 to December 2010 the executive agencies included are the UK Border Agency (UKBA), Identity and Passport Service (IPS) and Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). It should be noted that in April 2010 around 4,500 HM Revenue and Customs detection employees joined UKBA in a machinery of government change. Data for December 2011 and December 2012 additionally include the National Fraud Authority and the Government Equalities Office (part of Home Office Headquarters). Data for December 2012 to date exclude CRB employees who moved from the core Home Office to the Disclosure and Barring Service in December 2012. Source: Data View—the Home Office's single source of Office for National Statistics compliant monthly snapshot corporate Human Resources data.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days of work were carried out by officials in (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on average in each of the last five years; and what the total salary cost was of officials in each year.

James Brokenshire: Although full-time staff have a contract to work 225 days per year, the information on the average days worked in each of the last five years cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.
	The total salary costs for the last five years for the Home Office, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies can be found in the annual accounts published on the official-documents.gov.uk website.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2013, Official Report, columns 582-3W, on telephone services, whether a UK landline number beginning with 01, 02 or 03 is publicly available as an alternative to the 0800, 0845 and 0870 numbers in use by her Department and the agencies for which she is responsible.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office and its agencies do not operate any UK landline numbers beginning with 01, 02 or 03 as an alternative to the 0800, 0845 and 0870 numbers in use by the Department.

CABINET OFFICE

Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many civil servants in his Department have been subject to non-disclosure agreements in each year since 2010.

Francis Maude: We have taken “non-disclosure agreements” to mean compromise agreements between the Department and individual members of staff.
	These agreements may contain a non-disclosure clause which prevents the individual from disclosing or discussing the existence, negotiation and terms of the settlement.
	As was the case under the previous administration, the Cabinet Office always considers whether such clauses are appropriate and necessary and always ensures that non-disclosure clauses allow disclosure for business needs and the requirements of law, including accountability to Parliament.
	In the last three years five civil servants in the Cabinet Office signed compromise agreements which contain a non-disclosure clause.

Employment: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of mothers aged between 16 and 19 were in (a) education, (b) employment and (c) training in (i) Pendle constituency and (ii) Lancashire in each of the last 10 years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of mothers aged between 16 and 19 were in (a) education, (b) employment and (c) training in (i) Pendle constituency and (ii) Lancashire in each of the last 10 years. 151241
	It is not possible to provide reliable estimates on the proportion of mothers aged between 16 and 19 who were in education, employment or training for the Lancashire authority area, or below, due to small sample sizes.

Lung Cancer

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people have been diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of asbestos in their workplace in (a) England and (b) Birmingham in each of the last two years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people have been diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of asbestos in their workplace in (a) England and (b) Birmingham in each of the last two years.
	Exposure to asbestos is associated with a relatively rare type of cancer called mesothelioma. Although in most cases, mesothelioma arises in the pleura, the membrane around the lungs, this is a different disease to lung cancer. It is not possible to determine where exposure to asbestos occurred, for example from the workplace, from the information collated in the national cancer registration dataset.
	The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2010. Table 1 provides the number of newly diagnosed cases of mesothelioma in England and in Birmingham Unitary Authority, for each of the years 2009 to 2010.
	According to the Health & Safety Executive, while nearly all mesothelioma cases are caused by exposure to asbestos, a small number of cases occur in people with no history of exposure. There is evidence to suggest that these 'spontaneous mesotheliomas' comprise up to 5 per cent of total cases. Further information can be found at:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/mesothelioma/index.htm
	It is not possible to exclude spontaneous mesotheliomas from the figures provided.
	The latest published figures on cancer incidence in England are available on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/cancer-statistics-registrations--england--series-mb1-/index.html
	
		
			 Table 1. Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of mesothelioma(1), persons in England and Birmingham unitary authority(2), 2009-10(3) 
			   Number 
			 Area 2009 2010 
			 England 2,245 2,211 
			 Birmingham UA 23 19 
			 (1) Mesothelioma is coded as C45 in (he International Classification of Diseases. Tenth Revision (ICD-10). (2) Based on boundaries as of February 2013. (3) Newly diagnosed cases registered in each calendar year.

Overseas Students

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he expects enough data to have been collected to allow analysis of student migration patterns following the addition of a new question to the International Passenger Survey in 2012 asking passengers leaving the UK their reasons for initially coming to the country.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects enough data to have been collected to allow analysis of student migration patterns following the addition of a new question to the International Passenger Survey in 2012 asking passengers leaving the UK their reasons for initially coming to the country.
	ONS produces estimates of Long-Term International Migration (LTIM), primarily based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS). The IPS is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by ONS and is the prime source of long-term international migration data for the UK providing estimates of both inflows and outflows.
	In January 2012 new questions were added to the IPS to ask emigrants what their main reason for migrating was when they originally immigrated to the UK. The first provisional data from these new questions will be published on 29 August 2013, referring to migration flows for 2012. This publication will consist of a table of emigration flows by original reason for migrating to the UK, categorised by broad citizenship groups. ONS has plans to publish an additional table on 28 November (based on final data) showing original reason for migration by year of arrival to the UK. This publication will also include a short analytical report that will provide further detail by reasons for migrating to the UK, including study.

Prostate Cancer: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many men in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire died from advanced prostate cancer in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many men in (a) Pendle constituency (b) Lancashire died from advanced prostate cancer in each of the last five years. (151244)
	Table 1 provides the number of deaths where prostate cancer was the underlying cause of death, in Pendle parliamentary constituency and Lancashire county, for deaths registered between 2007 and 2011 (the latest year available).
	Internationally accepted guidance from the World Health Organisation requires any conditions that contributed directly to a death to be recorded on the death certificate. In cases where a cancer is deemed to have contributed to a death, medical practitioners and coroners are not required to specify whether the cancer was advanced at the time of death.
	The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age and underlying cause (including cancer), are published annually on the ONS website at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-27475
	
		
			 Table 1. Number of deaths where the underlying cause was prostate cancer, Pendle parliamentary constituency and Lancashire county, deaths registered between 2007 and 2011(1,2,3) 
			 Area 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Lancashire county 167 204 182 214 213 
			 Pendle constituency 14 11 10 12 14 
			 (1) Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (fCD-10) code C6I (Malignant neoplasm of prostate). It has been assumed that where prostate cancer was judged to be the underlying cause of death, it can be considered ‘advanced’. (2) Figures are based on boundaries correct as at February 2013 and exclude non-residents. (3) Figures show deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring, in a calendar year. Further information on registration delays for a range of causes, including prostate cancer, can be found on the ONS website: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/impact-of-registration-delays-on-mortality-statistics/index.html

Recruitment

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what amount (a) his Department and (b) the Prime Minister's Office spent on advertising job vacancies in each year from 2005 to 2009;
	(2)  how much his Department spent on advertising job vacancies in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007, (d) 2008 and (e) 2009.

Francis Maude: The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of Cabinet Office.
	Since the last general election, my Department has helped drive savings for the taxpayer from across central Government of over £12 billion.
	In the past there were no central controls over recruitment. On 25 May 2010 the Government announced a freeze on ail recruitment other than those specially exempted by a ministerial decision. Since then my Department has spent £21,537 advertising vacancies.
	In the period 2005-09, the Department spent the following sums on advertising recruitment:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2005-06 195,032 
			 2006-07 398,296 
			 2007-08 226,853 
			 2008-09 273,148

JUSTICE

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff are employed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service in Cumbria; and what proportion of those are paid at or above the relevant level of the living wage.

Helen Grant: 102 staff were employed by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) in Cumbria as of 31 January 2013.
	All HMCTS staff in Cumbria are paid at or above the relevant level of the living wage.

Judiciary

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which full-time members of the judiciary have carried out any functions in relation to review or reform of legislation, in any capacity other than as a member of an official body or inquiry, since May 2010; and what role they held in each such case.

Helen Grant: Though not necessarily falling in to the category of carrying out 'any functions in relation to review or reform of legislation', the Government do occasionally seek the views of the Lord Chief Justice and other senior judges on relevant legislation, in line with the conventions set out below. Judges may also be asked for their views in line with these conventions should they appear before Parliamentary Committees.
	Longstanding constitutional conventions prevent judges from commenting on the merits, meaning or likely effect of provisions in any Bill or other prospective legislation. This prevents a judge's impartiality from being called into question in the event of subsequently being asked to apply or interpret those provisions in a case in court, and is a crucial aspect of judicial independence.
	Judges may, however, comment on the practical operation or technical aspects of legislation, reflecting the judiciary's interest in the effective administration of justice and jointly held responsibility for the operation of Courts and Tribunals. Judges may also comment on the merit of legislation which affects the independence of the judiciary.

Law of Property Act 1925

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the number of receivers appointed under the Law of Property Act 1925.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice has not made any recent assessment of trends in the number of receivers appointed by mortgagees under powers conferred either by the express terms of the relevant mortgages or by the Law of Property Act 1925. Such appointments do not have to be registered with or notified to the Ministry of Justice or any other third party. Information about them is therefore not centrally collated.

Meetings

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  on which occasions Ministers in his Department met with representatives of (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) MTC/Amey, (e) A4E and (f) Working Links between 12 May 2010 and 3 September 2012;
	(2)  on which occasions since 4 September 2012 each Minister in his Department has met a representative or representatives of (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) MTC/Amey, (e) A4E and (f) Working Links;
	(3)  on which occasions Ministers in his Department met representatives of (a) the Prison Officers Association, (b) the Prison Governors Association, (c) NAPO, (d) UNISON and (e) PCS between 12 May 2010 and 3 September 2012;
	(4)  on which occasions since 4 September 2012 Ministers in his Department have met a representative of representatives of (a) the Prison Officers Association, (b) the Prison Governors Association, (c) NAPO, (d) UNISON and (e) Public and Commercial Services Union.

Helen Grant: All ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Ministry of Justice's website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/information-access-rights/transparency-data/ministry-of-justice-officials-gifts,-hospitality,-travel-and-meetings-with-external-organisations
	Meetings for the period October to December 2012 are due to be published shortly; the remainder will be published in due course.

Offenders: Fines

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the effect of court imposed fines on the housing security of offenders in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12.

Helen Grant: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has no way of assessing the effect of court imposed fines on housing security.
	The information HMCTS holds on offenders is provided by the prosecuting authorities, the offenders themselves and by using the tracing tools HMCTS has at its disposal such as the Experian credit reference agency and the Department for Work and Pensions customer information system. The means form which defendants are asked to complete asks them to provide details of expenditure on rent or mortgage but as many defendants do not provide financial means information to the court HMCTS does not know what amounts they are paying for housing.
	HMCTS takes the issue of fine enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on fine defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. HMCTS are always looking at ways to improve the collection of fines. As a part of the future strategy HMCTS will be considering numerous ways in which performance can be improved, this could include offender profiling.

Redundancy

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff in his Department were made redundant in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; and at what cost in each such year.

Helen Grant: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) on 14 January 2013, Official Report, columns 555-56W.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average amount of time was between the submission and hearing of a welfare appeal in the Social Entitlement Chamber in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Helen Grant: The Social Entitlement Chamber, administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), comprises three jurisdictions. These are Asylum and Support, Criminal Injuries Compensation and Social Security and Child Support (SSCS).
	This question has been interpreted as referring only to SSCS, which hears appeals on decisions made by the Department for Work and Pensions, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and local authorities on a range of benefits and credits.
	In the period October 2011 to September 2012 (the most recent 12-month period for which statistics have been published) the average waiting time from receipt in HMCTS to hearing was 20 weeks(1), down from 22 weeks in the period October 2010 to September 2011.
	(1) Inclusive of all Social Security Child Support Benefit Appeals in Great Britain

Solicitors: Fees and Charges

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy to refund in full to local authorities the retrospective demand for repaying of search fees to solicitors which had been charged under the nationally prescribed system set up by his Department.

Helen Grant: The Government are committed to ensuring that all new burdens on local authorities are properly assessed and fully funded by the relevant Department.
	The fee prescribed by the previous Government for a personal search of the local land charges register in England was revoked in August 2010 because it was inconsistent with the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. As a result the relevant Government Departments paid an additional grant to all local authorities in England in March 2011 in respect of the new burden of potential claims for restitution of fees paid for this search since from January 2005.
	The Departments have confirmed to the Local Government Association that if compelling new evidence becomes available they would be willing to re-open the relevant element of the new burdens assessment.
	Guidance to Government Departments on the New Burdens Doctrine published by the Department for Communities and Local Government is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-burdens-doctrine-guidance-for-government-departments

Vetting

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will investigate reports of blacklisting by the Consulting Association of environmental campaigners with no link to construction companies.

Helen Grant: Blacklisting of individuals is likely to represent a breach in the use of their personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the independent regulatory body responsible for enforcing the DPA in the UK. In 2008, the ICO began an investigation into the Consulting Association which uncovered a blacklist of construction workers used by construction companies. In 2009, the company and the blacklist were closed down and Ian Kerr, the founder of the list, was fined £5,000 for failing to notify as a data controller under the DPA. The ICO also issued enforcement notices against companies proven to have used and supplied information to the list demanding that they stop the practice. Since April 2010, the ICO has had the power to issue a Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) of up to £500,000 for serious breaches of the data protection principles in the DPA. Details of CMPs issued by the ICO can be found on its website at the following link:
	http://www.ico.org.uk/enforcement/fines
	It would be inappropriate for the Government to comment on the ICO's handling of any particular case. That said, I understand that the ICO found no evidence whatsoever that any blacklists existed in other industries, or that the number of individuals blacklisted went beyond those in the files secured. However, any evidence of blacklisting since the original investigation should be supplied to the ICO so that they can decide whether there are grounds for an investigation. Additionally, any individual can check whether they may have been on the Consulting Association blacklist by contacting the ICO's fast track service helpline on 0303 123 1113 between 9 am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday.

Wills

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with the Solicitors Regulation Authority about solicitors or other legal professionals writing themselves into legacies in wills.

Helen Grant: I have not had any discussions with the Solicitors Regulation Authority about solicitors or other legal professionals writing themselves into legacies in wills. Will writing is not a reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007, although my right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice is currently considering a recommendation by the Legal Services Board that it should be brought within this defined group of activities. More generally, solicitors and other legal professionals are subject to the professional standards of their regulator in all their conduct. A solicitor instructed to draft a will on terms that provide for him or her to be a beneficiary should be alert to the possibility of a conflict of interest and ensure that proper standards of client service are observed.

Work Capability Assessment: Appeals

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average waiting time was for an appeal of a work capability assessment in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 to date.

Helen Grant: The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions decisions on entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA) (decisions in which the work capability assessment is a key factor) rather than appeals against work capability assessment decisions themselves.
	The following table shows the average waiting time in weeks from receipt of an ESA appeal at HMCTS to disposal in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) April to December 2012 (the latest period for which figures are available).
	
		
			 Employment and support allowance appeals 
			  Average waiting times in weeks 
			 2009-10 12.6 
			 2010-11 19.4 
			 2011-12 22.9 
			 April to December 2012 17.4 
			 Note: The above data is taken from management information. 
		
	
	These figures reflect the fact that the number of appeals received by the SSCS Tribunal has risen significantly from 229,100 in 2007-08 to 453,719 between January and December 2012 (the latest period for which information has been published). HMCTS continues to work hard at a national level to increase the capacity of the SSCS Tribunal and reduce waiting times. Measures in place include ongoing recruitment of additional judges and medically qualified members and the review and continuous improvement of administrative processes both internally and between HMCTS and DWP.
	All of this is having a positive effect. The total number of disposals has increased significantly from 279,000 in 2009-10 to 380,000 in 2010-11, and 433,600 appeals in 2011-12 and, as the table shows, the average waiting time has fallen nationally from 22.9 weeks in 2011-12 to 17.4 weeks in April to December 2012.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Beko

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure the recall of Beko cookers with defects causing them to produce carbon monoxide.

Jo Swinson: The Government have set out the legal framework through the general product safety regulations. It is the legal responsibility of the company making unsafe products available to take appropriate measures to protect the public. Normal procedure, which is being followed in this case, is that the company works with their local authority Trading Standards service to take appropriate agreed action. The general product safety regulations provide Trading Standards with powers to require recalls of products when necessary, including imposing specific requirements, and for the company to take any other action as Trading Standards consider appropriate and proportionate to the risk. Ultimately, the onus is on a company to work effectively with Trading Standards to protect consumers.

Business: Loans

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had either orally or in writing with (a) the Scottish Government and (b) Scottish Enterprise regarding the advice services to be offered by the proposed Government Business Bank.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 15 April 2013
	The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not had any such discussions.
	BIS Officials have had discussions with officials in the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise about our overall plans for the Business Bank.

Higher Education: Admissions

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (a) how many and (b) what proportion of state-educated students from each local authority area who achieved A-level grades of (i) AAA and above and (ii) BBB and above went to each university in each of the last three years.

David Willetts: The information is not readily available at the level of detail required and could only be produced by complex extraction and analysis of a large volume of matched data which would incur disproportionate cost.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has produced the following estimates at a national level.
	
		
			 Estimated numbers and proportions of maintained schools A level students from England who progressed to Higher Education by age 19 in 2009/10 UK Higher Education Institutions and English Further Education Colleges 
			 A level results Number entered HE(1) Percentage entered HE 
			 AAA 18,555 96 
			 BBB 6,020 91 
			 (1) Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5. Source: Matched data from the DFE National Pupil Database, the HESA Student Record and Data Services Individualised Student Record, using HEFCE linking methodology 
		
	
	The UCAS end of cycle report 2012 explains that acceptance rates for applicants who achieve AAA, AAB, ABB or BBB are high, around 90%.
	http://www.ucas.ac.uk/documents/End_of_Cycle_Report_12_12_2012.pdf

Higher Education: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many applications to Scottish universities made through UCAS came from students at non-selective state schools in each of the last five years.

David Willetts: Higher education in Scotland is a devolved matter. This information should be requested from the Scottish Government, or directly from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the body responsible for processing applications to full-time undergraduate courses at institutions in the UK. More information about UCAS can be found at:
	www.ucas.com

New Businesses: Young People

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to increase the number of young entrepreneurs in the UK.

Michael Fallon: The Government are encouraging an entrepreneurial mindset and building ambition in young people through activities in schools, colleges and universities; such as supporting the “Inspiring the Future” initiative, which encourages people from all sectors and professions to work with state schools and colleges to help young people achieve their potential. As part of this initiative we are recruiting 2,500 volunteer enterprise champions to go into schools to talk about their businesses, career choices and the education routes they took, sharing the insights and experiences which can encourage young people to turn their enterprise dreams into reality. We are also supporting the establishment of student enterprise societies in all universities and most further education colleges in England.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria are used in (a) his Department and (b) each public body for which he is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

Jo Swinson: An element of the BIS overall pay award for staff below the senior civil service (SCS) is allocated to non-consolidated, non-pensionable pay related to performance. The money allocated to performance awards is subject to annual affordability considerations and the eligibility criteria and amounts are subject to annual negotiations with our Trade Unions. There are two types of award:
	1. In-year awards that recognise exceptional contributions to business performance and ways of working made by individuals or teams. For example, demonstrating exceptional flexibility, openness or innovation; delivery of particularly demanding tasks in exceptional circumstances and notable examples of excellent customer service;
	2. Annual performance awards that reward staff based on their performance rating in their annual appraisal.
	These non-consolidated, non-pensionable pay awards, are used to drive high performance and have to be earned each year against pre-determined targets and do not add to future pay bills. The payments made for both types of award are entirely related to staff performance.
	Performance awards for the senior civil service (SCS) are part of the pay system across the whole SCS, and are used to reward high performance sustained throughout the year, based on judgments and about how well an individual has performed relative to their peers. The performance-related pay scheme is designed to help drive high performance and support better public service delivery. Performance awards are non-consolidated and non-pensionable and do not add to future paybill costs. The percentage of the pay bill set aside for performance-related awards for the SCS is based on recommendations from the independent senior salaries review body. In year awards are not paid to senior civil servants.
	This Department does not hold centrally the information you request concerning its non-departmental public bodies and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Post Offices

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the name, location and parliamentary constituency is of each Crown post office listed for closure.

Jo Swinson: It is crucial that Post Office Ltd continues to take steps to eradicate the losses made in its Crown network, currently around £40 million a year. The proposals to franchise 70 post office branches currently part of the Crown network should not be misconstrued as closures. Post Office Ltd is committed to maintaining a network of at least 11,500 branches, and to meet the strict access criteria that see, for example, over 90% of the UK population living within one mile of a post office outlet. Where a Crown branch is franchised, service will be maintained in that community, and the overall sustainability of the national network will be strengthened.
	The precise details of the Crown branches impacted by these proposals are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the chief executive officer of Post Office Ltd, to respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Photographs

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the number of Cogent photographic systems that will need to be removed as part of the planned retail partnerships of 70 Crown post offices;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the installation of Cogent photographic equipment to deal with driving licence applications on waiting times in post offices;
	(3)  how many of the Crown post offices that are being targeted for retail partnership have Cogent photographic equipment installed.

Jo Swinson: It is crucial that Post Office Ltd continues to take steps to eradicate the losses made in its Crown network, currently around £40 million a year. The proposals to franchise 70 post office branches that are currently part of the Crown network is an important part of Post Office Ltd's commercial strategy, which is supported by Government. The Crown network continues to be heavily loss making, and threatens the long-term sustainability of the national Post Office network. Post Office Ltd's proposals to maintain services through franchise arrangements with carefully selected retailers following a local public consultation are a vital step towards a financially sustainable future for the Post Office network and its customers.
	However, the precise information requested is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the chief executive officer of Post Office Ltd, to respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Postgraduate Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what support his Department provides to postgraduate students;
	(2)  what sources of funding his Department makes available to postgraduate students.

David Willetts: Postgraduate research and taught training is important both to individuals and to developing higher level skills for the economy. The Government provides funding to support eligible individuals undertaking postgraduate qualifications.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) provides funding to higher education institutions (HEIs) in England to meet some of the costs incurred by HEIs of teaching students on taught postgraduate courses and of supervising students in the first three years of a postgraduate research degree programme.
	In 2012-13, HEFCE has maintained the allocation for taught postgraduate provision at £135 million, similar to levels for 2011-12. HEFCE has increased support for postgraduate research degree supervision to £240 million, and in addition Research Councils will invest £340 million in postgraduate research provision. The support from Research Councils includes provision for stipends for postgraduate research students.
	BIS also supports Professional and Career Development Loans (PCDLs) provided by Barclays and the Co-operative Bank. PCDLs are deferred-repayment bank loans of up to £10,000 for up to two years study, usually repaid over period of one to five years. Postgraduate taught courses account for almost 90% of the 8,000 loans each year.
	In addition, BIS and the Northern Ireland Administration are providing support for up to 500 students to undertake specific aerospace related MSc programmes at UK universities for academic year 2013/14 through to 2015/16. £3 million funding from Government will be matched by industry. The Aerospace MSc Bursary Scheme aims to generate more aerospace MSc qualified professionals to work in the sector; and to up-skill the existing UK aerospace workforce in key areas of technology for the future.

Public Expenditure

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the estimated Resource DEL underspend in financial year 2012-13 of £600 million as set out in Table 2.5 of the Budget 2013 Red Book which service areas in his Department received reduced resources; what the amounts of resource reduction were; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: Table 2.5 of the Budget 2013 Red Book shows the difference between Budget 2012 plans and Department's latest estimates of their full-year position.
	The Department surrendered c.£420 million of RDEL at supplementary estimates, of which c.£350 million is available for future years through the Budget Exchange mechanism. It has also transferred a net c.£60 million to other Government Departments. The Department will set out its final underspend position when year-end figures are available as part of its annual accounts in the usual way.
	The c.£350 million roll-forward was the result of improvements in BIS's financial forecasting and management that allowed BIS to identify underspends at an earlier stage than would usually be the case and then maximise the use of this funding in the following year to help deliver better outcomes.

Students: Loans

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the policy of the Student Loans Company is on the provision of course specific software for students with specific learning disabilities.

David Willetts: The Government provide substantial financial help through disabled students’ allowances (DSAs) for English-domiciled students with a disability or long-term health condition, including specific learning difficulties. DSAs are provided in respect of the extra costs a student may incur as a direct result of their disability, so as to enable them to participate in higher education on an equal basis to their peers. DSAs cover a range of support, including assistive software.
	In England, before receiving any support through DSA, eligible students are required to attend a DSA study needs assessment with an independent assessor who will consider and recommend any additional equipment and support that the student might need to enable them to study on their course. Students with specific learning difficulties may receive funding for appropriate software where they have an additional need for this in comparison with students on the same course.

Training

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many away days his Department held in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007, (d) 2008 and (e) 2009; and what the cost was of each such event.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was created on 5 June 2009 via a merger of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) which ceased to exist from that date.
	We do not hold training records centrally and to collate this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Training: Older People

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to provide training for over-50s to increase their employability in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.

Matthew Hancock: Further education and skills is a devolved matter and, as such, I can reply only in respect of England. FE colleges and providers have a single Adult Skills Budget providing them with the flexibility to respond to local learner and employer needs. The Government are continuing to fund basic English and maths courses for adults. Fully funded, targeted training is available for people on jobseeker’s allowance and employment and support allowance in the Work Related Activity Group (and will also be available for universal credit claimants) from day one of their claim, where they have had a skills need identified and the training will help them get into work. At the discretion of the college or training provider fully funded training can be offered to people on other benefits, provided that they have sufficient funds to do so and that they can demonstrate that the training is being provided to help individuals enter or return to work.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) also helps to fund Community Learning through the £210 million pa Community Learning budget, which offers a broad range of courses that bring together adults of different ages and backgrounds to acquire new skills. In 2010/11 the BIS Community Learning budget supported 340,700 people aged over 45, which represented approx 49% of all learners participating in BIS-funded community learning courses.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Enterprise Zones

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new jobs have been created in each enterprise zone since their inception.

Mark Prisk: Over 1,700 new jobs have been created across all 24 enterprise zones in England since they opened for business in April 2012. Further details on individual enterprise zone performance can be obtained from the relevant zones.

Homelessness: City of Westminster

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what explanation Westminster City Council has given to his Department for not providing a statistical return detailing the number of homeless families with children in bed and breakfast accommodation on 31 December 2012;
	(2)  what explanation Westminster City Council has given to his Department for not giving a statistical return detailing the number of homeless households placed outside the borough on 30 September 2012.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 15 April 2013
	The Department is in correspondence with Westminster city council about the completion of its quarterly (PIE) homelessness returns. I understand this is an IT issue relating to a change in IT systems.

Homelessness: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps the Housing Minister agreed to take following his meeting on 4 December 2012 with those local authorities most severely affected by the rising number of homeless people in London;
	(2)  if he will be holding a follow-up to his meeting on 4 December 2012 on the rising number of homeless people in London with those representing the local authorities most severely affected.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 15 April 2013
	A copy of the note of the Homelessness Roundtable held on 4 December 2012 has been placed in the Library of the House.
	We know that just 20 local authority districts account for well over 80% of families housed in bed and breakfast over six weeks. I will be asking my officials to work closely with those authorities that have the highest rates to understand how this practice might be addressed.
	I have also met with representatives of London councils to discuss the use of bed and breakfast accommodation and the placement of households outside the receiving local authority district.
	As the hon. Member is already aware, on the 23 March we published for the first time, a list of all those local authorities who have used bed and breakfast for families for longer than six weeks.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps are being taken in Nottinghamshire to ensure that housing associations have enough properties to allocate to people wishing to downgrade to smaller sized properties in order to avoid paying the spare room subsidy; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: We expect many tenants affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy will decide to stay in their existing home and make up the difference in rent which is not met by housing benefit by finding work, or taking in a lodger. Where social tenants decide to move to a smaller property, we have made it easier for them do so through changes to the allocation rules in the Localism Act 2011 and the introduction of HomeSwap Direct.
	We are investing £19.5 billion of public and private funding to build 170,000 new affordable homes by 2015. Councils and housing associations should be working closely together to identify the type of provision that will most appropriately meet locally identified needs, including the needs of existing tenants seeking to downsize to smaller accommodation.
	In addition, at Budget we are doubling the Affordable Homes Guarantee Programme funding to £450 million to support a further 30,000 new affordable homes.

Local Government: Liverpool

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2013, Official Report, column 907W, on City Deals, which projects and programmes in the Liverpool City Council region his Department plans to fund; and how much it plans to allocate to each.

Mark Prisk: DCLG has agreed to provide £75 million of funding as part of the Liverpool City Deal on the basis of an economic development programme business case submitted by Liverpool city council.
	The objectives of the Liverpool City Deal Economic Development Programme are to:
	exploit Liverpool's national and international profile and make the most of the vitality of its citizens;
	enhance Liverpool's infrastructure, links and distinctive sense and quality of place;
	encourage business creation, growth and productivity;
	raise demand for a skilled and educated work force, helping residents to reach their full potential; and
	improve the quality, range and choice of housing.
	It will be for Liverpool to allocate resources to individual projects from this fund in line with the delivery of the outcomes set out in the business case.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Burma

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received of the use of forced labour by Light Infantry Brigade 115 of the Burmese Army in Chin State, Burma.

Hugo Swire: Our embassy in Rangoon raised this matter with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), tasked with investigating all allegations of forced labour in Burma. The ILO had not previously heard of this specific allegation. We continue to monitor its investigation.
	We welcome the agreement between the Burmese Government and the ILO to establish a complaints mechanism to investigate forced labour cases, which was referenced by Tomas Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, in his report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2013.

Burma

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the restrictions on Muslim villagers' freedom of movement in Northern Rakhine State in Burma.

Hugo Swire: We continue to receive reports from the UN and non-governmental organisations, including Human Rights Watch, that detail discrimination and human rights abuses faced by the Rohingya in Rakhine State. Rohingya communities continue to face restrictions, including of their freedom of movement, owing to their lack of citizenship rights. The British Government have strongly and consistently lobbied on this issue, and we continue to do so at the highest levels.
	I am the only EU Minister to have visited Rakhine State, having been there in December 2012, where I lobbied the Burmese Government and local authorities to ensure that they guaranteed the security of all communities and looked for a longer term solution to the question of citizenship for the Rohingya. While there, I was able to visit a Muslim community in Sittwe whose movements were seriously restricted. Our ambassador in Rangoon has frequently visited Rakhine State, most recently in February. Our chargé d’affaires most recently lobbied the Burmese Minister for Immigration, with responsibility for Rakhine State, on 8 April, raising with him questions around the long-term plans for the resettlement and reintegration of the displaced communities in Rakhine State.

Colombia

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the level of sexual violence in Colombia; and what recent discussions he has had with the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict about sexual violence in Colombia.

Hugo Swire: The Colombian Government have recognised combating sexual violence as a priority issue and in September launched a National Public Policy for Gender Equality, covering issues such as increased women's participation in political decisions and better services for survivors of sexual violence. Our embassy is working with the Prosecutor-General's office to improve investigation procedures and increase awareness of the services available to survivors.
	Many cases of sexual violence are still in the initial pre-trial stages of investigation. However, there have been high profile prosecutions, including of Lieutenant Raul Munoz, who was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the rape of two girls and the murder of one of the girls and her two brothers.
	We are working closely with the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on sexual violence in conflict, but are not in discussion with her about the situation in Colombia at present. We will review this as necessary and will continue to monitor the situation of sexual violence in Colombia.

Colombia

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration his Department has given to including Colombia as a priority country in the preventing sexual violence initiative; and what assistance the Government are providing to prevent sexual violence in Colombia and improve access to justice for victims.

Hugo Swire: Colombia is not currently a priority country for the deployment of UK experts as part of the preventing sexual violence initiative (PSVI). Resources are limited and we have not been able to focus on every country where sexual violence is a problem. However, the PSVI team and our embassy in Bogota will continue to monitor areas of conflict, and if the situation in Colombia deteriorates, we would review this prioritisation. In the meantime, officials are looking into how the PSVI objectives can be incorporated into our existing human rights work in Colombia.
	The embassy is currently working with the Prosecutor-General's office to improve investigations into sexual violence outside armed conflict, and to raise awareness of support services available for survivors. The embassy is also encouraging civil society organisations to put forward proposals for projects to protect women's rights and tackle sexual violence, which is one of our human rights priorities for 2013. The embassy will continue to monitor the situation of sexual violence in Colombia.

Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many civil servants in his Department have been subject to non-disclosure agreements in each year since 2010.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has settled fewer than five cases using compromise agreements containing confidentiality clauses (non-disclosure agreements), in each year since 2010 for UK-based FCO staff working in both the UK and at our overseas posts. For reasons of confidentiality the FCO does not disclose more detailed information when overall numbers amount to fewer than five. This is in line with Cabinet Office guidance.

India

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the criminalisation and inclusion of rape committed by a man on his wife when she is over 15 years of age in the new Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 recently passed by that country's parliament.

Hugo Swire: The Government regularly raise human rights concerns with India, including cases of sexual violence and discrimination, both bilaterally and through the EU-India Human Rights Dialogue.
	During my visit to India on 21-22 March, I also discussed the issue of sexual violence and discrimination with Indian human rights organisations. I have not to date discussed the new Criminal Law Bill with my Indian counterpart.

Macedonia

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to visit Macedonia.

David Lidington: Neither my right hon Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs nor I currently have firm plans to visit Macedonia.
	The Government continue to support Macedonia’s EU accession and to provide assistance to its ongoing reform effort through, among other things, training and expertise sharing.

Nepal

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the authorities in Nepal regarding the trial of Colonel Kumar Lama.

Hugo Swire: The Prime Minister has written to His Excellency Dr Bhattarai, the Prime Minister of Nepal, to say that this case is now a matter for the UK courts. He reiterated that Britain has an obligation under the UN convention against torture to investigate allegations of torture and my right hon. Friend made assurances that Colonel Lama would receive a fair trial and would enjoy full access to consular support from the Nepalese embassy.

Nepal

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether officials in his Department have had discussions about marking the bicentenary of diplomatic relations with Nepal in March 2016.

Hugo Swire: Nepal is an old and valued friend to Britain and we will certainly look to mark this important occasion. I have had discussions with the Nepalese ambassador, about how best to use the bicentenary to both celebrate and strengthen our relationship. No decision has yet been made but officials will continue to consider our plans and discuss these with the Nepalese authorities.

Visits Abroad

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many overseas visits have been made by Ministers of his Department to support trade and investment in each year since 2010.

Hugo Swire: The Government are fully committed to supporting trade and investment. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Charter for Business sets out how the FCO supports UK business overseas and how the FCO is working to help deliver success for the UK's economy.
	Foreign Office Ministers have a varied programme when they travel overseas. To collate all the information for the period since 2010 would be possible only at disproportionate cost.
	However, to give a flavour of the level of engagement by Ministers, there have been 37 countries visited between January and March 2013 which have involved a programme supporting trade and investment work. This number includes all Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers, including my noble Friend Lord Green, the Minister with responsibility for Trade and Investment.
	Details of all overseas visits undertaken by Ministers are published on a quarterly basis on the GOV.UK website.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-quarterly-returns-hospitality-gifts-overseas-travel-and-meetings-with-external-organisations
	The information includes the name, date, destination, purpose of the visit and cost by each Minister.

HEALTH

NHS Reorganisations

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS staff have been made redundant and subsequently re-employed by NHS organisations since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The number of people made redundant in the national health service since 1 May 2010 and since re-employed in the NHS up to 31 December 2012 is estimated to be 2,275.(1)
	(1) This estimate is based on staff recorded on the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Data Warehouse as having a reason for leaving as either voluntary or compulsory redundancy between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2012, and who have a subsequent record on the ESR Data Warehouse up to 31 December 2012.
	Note:
	The ESR Data Warehouse is a monthly snapshot of the live ESR system. This is the HR and payroll system that covers all NHS employees other than those working in General Practice, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Health Care: York and North Yorkshire

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to alleviate the effect on health care funding in York and North Yorkshire of an ageing population.

Jeremy Hunt: Age is the main driver of an individual's need for health care, as reflected in recent funding formulae.
	While this is for the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England), our Mandate to them makes clear that equal access for equal need should be at the heart of their approach to allocating resources locally.

Redundancy Payments

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS has spent on redundancy payments since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The national health service has spent £793 million on all exit packages between April 2010 and March 2012 (the latest date for which figures are available) of which £333.7 million was on compulsory redundancy payments.

Health Services: Bulgarian and Romanian Migrants

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the European Commission on limiting access to health services for Bulgarian and Romanian migrants from January 2014.

Daniel Poulter: We have not discussed this subject with the European Commission.
	The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr Hoban), had a constructive discussion on the benefit measures outlined in the Prime Minister's speech on immigration with Laszlo Andor from the Commission on 25 March 2013.
	We will be consulting on proposals for national health service access this summer. We will discuss with the Commission any which might impact on European Economic Area citizens.

ABP Food Group

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ABP Food Group meat cutting plants have trading standards or Food Standards Agency officials visited since 16 January 2013.

Anna Soubry: The following visits have been carried out at ABP Food Group meat cutting plants in Great Britain by either local authority enforcement officers or Food Standards Agency (FSA) since 16 January 2013:
	
		
			 Type of Inspection Number of visits conducted since 16 January 2013 
			 Unannounced Visits by FSA 1 
			 Food Business Operator Audit by FSA 5 
			 Local Authority Inspection 1

Alzheimer's Disease

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the UK taking part in human clinical trials on the use of bexarotene to treat severe stages of Alzheimer's.

Daniel Poulter: There are no current international multicentre clinical trials of the use of bexarotene to treat severe stages of Alzheimer's disease. A small clinical study is now being set up in the United States to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bexarotene in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
	The Department's National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including treatment of dementia. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the scientific quality of the proposals made.

Bisphenol A

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether baby bottles procured and used for medical purposes and subject to Medical Devices Regulations but not covered by The Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 could contain the chemical bisphenol A (BPA); what assessment he has made of the circumstances in which such a bottle containing BPA could be regarded as safe; what recent assessment he has made of reports on early exposure to BPA and its effects on babies in intensive care; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Feeding bottles or similar products indicated for use by the manufacturer to deliver a medicine or a controlled quantity of milk for babies needing a strict control of intake for medical reasons, are subject to the Medical Devices Regulations which implement the EC Medical Devices Directive into United Kingdom law. The directive which governs the safety and performance of medical devices being placed on the market in the European Union requires that the manufacturer assess and demonstrate that any risks are outweighed by the medical benefits.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is the competent authority for medical devices in the UK. It is aware of the World Health Organisation report on endocrine disrupting chemicals, including Bisphenol A (BPA) as well as other past reviews on the use of BPA in medical devices which have determined that the benefits they offer outweigh any risks. In addition the European Commission has already asked the European Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks to look at the use of BPA in medical devices. Their report is awaited and will indicate if more specific controls should be considered for European medical devices legislation.

Co-cyprindiol

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the safety of co-cyprindiol tablets; and if he will take steps to withdraw them from use.

Norman Lamb: In the United Kingdom the safety of co-cyprindiol has been reviewed by the Commission on Human Medicines (previously the Committee on Safety of Medicines) or its Expert Advisory Group on Medicines for Women’s Health four times in recent years. Product information for co-cyprindiol has been updated to ensure the information provided to prescribes and women is up-to-date and clearly reflects the available data. Prescribers have been kept informed of new advice through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's safety bulletin.
	The European Medicines Agency has recently announced a further European Union-wide review of the risks and benefits of co-cyprindiol based on concerns in France about the well-known risk of venous thromboembolism and concern about off-label use in contraception. The available data will be carefully evaluated and we will ensure that any action necessary is taken promptly in the UK.

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved administrations on the collation of data on (a) the number of children diagnosed with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, (b) the survival rates of such children and (c) the cost of their specialist care.

Daniel Poulter: No such discussions have been held.
	There are no known interventions to prevent congenital diaphragmatic hernia. This condition is specified in the list of structural abnormalities that are included in the anomaly screening scan at 20 weeks that is offered to all women during antenatal care.
	Data on this condition are not held centrally by the Department, but are collected and published by the British Isles Network of Congenital Anomaly Registers (BINOCAR). Data are available for the following five English regional congenital anomaly registers—Berkshire and Buckinghamshire (CAROBB), East Midlands and South Yorkshire (EMSYCAR), Northern region (NorCAS), South West region (SWCAR), and Wessex (WANDA). They cover 32% of the births in England.

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of the treatment of children diagnosed with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not available as the cost to the national health service of the treatment of congenital diaphragmatic hernia is not separately reported to the Department.

Defibrillators

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to have defibrillators provided in all public buildings; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The majority of cardiac arrests, possibly, as many as 80%, happen outside hospital and occur in the home. Therefore, to improve survival rates, more people need to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The Cardiovascular Disease outcomes strategy published earlier this month highlighted this and the need for the wider availability of defibrillators. The NHS Commissioning Board will work with the Resuscitation Council, the British Heart Foundation and others to promote mapping/registration of defibrillators and to consider ways of increasing the numbers trained in both CPR and use of defibrillators.

Dementia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will institute a UK-wide dementia strategy.

Norman Lamb: Health care outside of England is a matter for the Devolved Administrations, therefore the Department will not institute a United Kingdom wide dementia strategy.

Dementia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Governments to increase dementia screening and to better deliver support services.

Norman Lamb: The Department has not had discussions and does not advocate screening for dementia.
	Professor Alistair Burns and departmental officials will shortly be meeting representatives from all the Devolved Administrations to ensure that they are able to be kept fully up to date of all aspects of the Prime Minister's challenge on dementia, and also to share good practice between different countries in the United Kingdom.

Dental Services: Foreign Nationals

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of dental treatment for overseas visitors in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: This information is not held centrally.

Diabetes

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with clinicians and others about those indicators relating to diabetes which should be proposed to the NHS Commissioning Board; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: NHS England is responsible for the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set (CCG Outcomes Indicator Set). Following recommendations from NICE and engagement with clinicians and other stakeholders the CCG Outcomes Indicator Set for 2013-14 was published on the NHS CB website at:
	www.england.nhs.uk/ccg-ois/
	The set includes a number of indicators relating to diabetes.

Diabetes

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diabetes-related amputations have taken place in each strategic health authority area in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: Information on diabetes-related amputations that have taken place in each strategic health authority (SHA) for the years 2007-08 to 2011-12 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 SHA name 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 North East Strategic Health Authority 70 95 114 94 105 
			 North West Strategic Health Authority 233 252 265 238 249 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority 166 187 163 250 277 
			 East Midlands Strategic Health Authority 225 214 216 230 187 
			 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 213 258 214 231 284 
			 East of England Strategic Health Authority 334 265 290 308 291 
			 London Strategic Health Authority 283 279 224 315 312 
			 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority 181 163 190 199 193 
			 South Central Strategic Health Authority 143 154 138 166 195 
			 South West Strategic Health Authority 266 330 362 339 313

Diabetes

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage the appropriate prescription of insulin pumps.

Anna Soubry: The Department's NHS Outcomes Framework and Mandate outline the improvements in health and healthcare that we envisage the national health service achieving. This includes enhancing the quality of life for people with long-term conditions through the provision of high quality, efficient, and fair services.
	It is for NHS England to ensure commissioners and providers make insulin pumps available for those people with diabetes that meet the criteria recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, as well as ensuring the relevant structured patient education is provided to support people newly diagnosed with diabetes and at appropriate points in their life as their condition progresses.

Diabetes: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that the nine key care processes set out by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in respect of diabetes are being followed in Peterborough constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: In 2001, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence outlined nine care processes that people with diabetes should receive annually to monitor risk of developing complications and reduce risk of further deterioration. The nine care processes are: HbA1c (a measurement of residual glucose), body mass index, blood pressure, urine albumin creatinine ratio, blood tests for creatinine (to assess kidney function) and cholesterol, eye examinations, foot examinations and assessment of smoking status. It is the responsibility of the local national health service to deliver the nine diabetes care processes and, from 1 April 2013, this will be monitored by NHS England.

Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many civil servants in his Department have been subject to non-disclosure agreements in each year since 2010.

Daniel Poulter: No civil servants have been subject to non-disclosure agreements since 2010. However, all civil servants on appointment are bound by the Official Secrets Act 1989 and confidentiality under this Act continues even when they leave Crown employment.

Food: Inspections

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authorities have delivered no data on (a) food standards and (b) food hygiene in each year since 2007.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency moved to an electronic data collection system from 2008-09. To enable them to prepare for implementation of this new system, local authorities were given a moratorium on providing an annual data return in 2007-08.
	The number of local authorities that delivered no data in each year from 2008-09 are:
	
		
			 Reporting year Food standards Food hygiene 
			 2008-09 16 18 
			 2009-10 1 0 
			 2010-11 0 0 
			 2011-12 0 0

Food: Inspections

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what power the Food Standards Agency possesses to require food sampling.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the central competent authority for food safety and has a statutory function under the Food Standards Art 1999 to protect public health and consumers' other interests in relation to food and drink. The majority of food law enforcement is delegated to local authorities throughout the United Kingdom who carry out checks of all food businesses in their area to ensure compliance with food safety/traceability and labelling requirements. Local authority food sampling responsibilities are set out in the statutory Food Law Code of Practice (separate parallel Codes of Practice exist for each of the four UK countries), as part of which they are required to develop an annual sampling programme for their area and provide the resources necessary to carry it out.
	The FSA monitors arrangements to make sure that there is adequate provision for local authority sampling and analysis as part of an annual process, whereby the FSA reports on the UK's performance in carrying out regulatory controls, as set out in the National Control Plan required under the EC Official Feed and Food Regulation 882/2004.
	In addition, the FSA identifies priorities each year for the national co-ordinated food sampling programme, carried out by local authorities funded by the FSA. The priorities take into account consumer and public health protection, are risk and evidence based and intelligence-led. The priorities are published on the FSA's website.

Food: Inspections

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the systems in place to ensure comprehensive food hygiene and food standard control and testing.

Anna Soubry: Local authorities provide annual returns to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on their food law enforcement activities including any sampling undertaken and the results of testing carried out. These data are analysed to provide national statistics and to examine emerging trends, which in turn are used to inform the agency's programme of audits of local authorities.
	An annual report containing the annual data, an analysis of trends over the previous three years and details of the agency's audit of local authorities is submitted to the FSA board for assessment. The latest report, covering the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, was discussed at the November 2012 board meeting and is available at:
	www.food.gov.uk
	via the following the links:
	About Us;
	How we work; ,
	Our Board;
	Open Board meetings;
	Board meetings 2012;
	13 November 2012 ‘Agenda and papers’; and
	Local Authority Enforcement Monitoring System (LAEMS) Report ‘FSA 12 November 2006’.

Food: Inspections

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people suitably qualified to carry out food hygiene and food standards testing; and what assessment he has made of whether that number is adequate.

Anna Soubry: The 2011-12 data provided to the Food Standards Agency by local authorities indicated that the following number of professional full-time equivalent (FTE) staff were engaged in United Kingdom food law enforcement and, as such, would be suitably qualified to carry out food sampling:
	Food hygiene: 1,870
	Food standards: 840
	The Food Standards Agency would assess and, where appropriate, make recommendations about the adequacy of the number of qualified staff when auditing individual local authorities.
	The latest figures available for food examiners and public analysts employed in the UK are:
	Food examiners (food hygiene testing): 57
	Public analysts (food standards testing): 31
	These figures relate to Official Control Laboratories, there are other commercial laboratories that are qualified to carry out food testing.
	The current system has been adequate to cope under the high workloads of samples sent for analysis during the horsemeat incident.

Food: Inspections

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many food samples were taken in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13 to date for (i) food hygiene and (ii) food standards purposes.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is involved in a range of food sampling carried out each year under a range of national and European Union food legislation. The various areas of testing and number of samples taken are set out in the annual reports of the Implementation of the UK National Control Plan since 2007.
	The FSA also commissions regular surveys of foods to help to protect and inform consumers by alerting the agency to potential food safety issues. The surveys help to judge the effectiveness of regulation and inform negotiations with the European Commission, monitor trends and assess risks. These surveys can also be found on the FSA website.
	Local authorities report on food sampling activity in their annual food law enforcement monitoring returns to the FSA. In 2011-12, the total number of samples taken by local authorities across the United Kingdom was 78,653 and 92,181 analyses were carried out on these samples. The total sample figure cannot be split between food hygiene (FH) and food standards (FS) issues as an individual sample may be subjected to tests for both. The breakdown by analyses is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
			 Microbiological contamination (FH) 55,546 
			 Other contamination (FH/FS) 4,432 
			 Composition (FS) 18,219 
			 Labelling and Presentation (FS) 11,879 
			 Others (FH/FS) 2,105 
		
	
	Data on 2012-13 food sampling activity by local authorities are not currently available.

General Practitioners

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to make salaried and partnership working more attractive to recently qualified GPs than locum employment or emigration.

Daniel Poulter: The vast majority of general practitioner (GP) practices run as private businesses and it is entirely up to the partners of each practice to determine whether to invite a new partner to join, or what terms and conditions they offer to employ a salaried GP. It is then a matter for individual GPs to decide whether they seek to join a practice as a partner, salaried GP or to be employed as a locum.
	The latest annual earnings before tax figures, for 2010-11, for GP contractors was £107,700, some four times the average United Kingdom annual salary, while salaried GPs earned £57,900 (or around £70,000 on a whole time equivalent basis). Earnings figures for GPs employed as locums are not separately identified.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what official in each NHS trust is designated as responsible for identifying, charging and recovering costs from overseas visitors.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not hold this information, but has issued guidance that strongly recommends that national health service trusts have a designated person to oversee implementation of the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2011, as amended. This person is often referred to as an Overseas Visitors Manager.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating non-EU visitors that was not recovered in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of foreign nationals not entitled to free NHS care who have been detained in the UK for failing to pay for treatment given to them by the NHS in each of the last 10 years;
	(3)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of overseas visitors not entitled to free NHS care who have been treated by the NHS and have left the UK without paying for that treatment in each of the last 10 years.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not hold this information.
	The Department is not able to make a reliable estimate of the cost to the national health service of treating non-European Union visitors that was not recovered because the NHS does not currently have robust enough systems in place to identify every overseas patient who should pay for hospital treatment. Where they are identified it is estimated that approximately 50% do not pay for that treatment.
	The Department has recently concluded a major review of the rules and procedures on charging visitors and migrants for NHS care and will shortly consult on plans to extend charging to some visitors and temporary residents and on improving how the NHS can identify, charge and recover charges where they should apply.

Hospitals: Food

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that there is sufficient fruit in the diet of patients on wards.

Daniel Poulter: National health service organisations are responsible for developing their own food policies, but all are expected to comply with the Care Quality Commission's ‘Essential standards of Quality and Safety’.
	New patient-led assessments of the care environment (PLACE) began on 1 April 2013, and include hospital food and drink. These wide ranging assessments include a question to establish whether hospitals ensure that fresh fruit is available at all times.
	NHS organisations are also encouraged to comply with Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services, which recommends increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.

Hospitals: Hydration

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospitals have a hydration policy for their wards.

Norman Lamb: This information is not collected or held centrally. However, all providers of regulated activities, including hospitals, are required by law to have policies in place that protect people from the risks of dehydration. It is for health and social care providers to develop local hydration policies and there are a number of best practice resources available to help providers to do this.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many elective operations have been cancelled for non-clinical reasons over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The information collected by the Department is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Quarter ending March 2012 June 2012 September 2012 December 2012 
			 Elective operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons on or after the day of admission 16,719 14,113 13,122 16,211 
			 Source: Department of Health Quarterly Monitoring of Cancelled Elective Operations

In Vitro Fertilisation

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to allow progress with the mitochondrial transfer IVF technique following the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority consultation findings.

Anna Soubry: We will carefully consider the advice that we received on 28 March from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and will respond in due course.

Kidneys: Diseases

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the mortality rate of hospital patients with acute kidney injury in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: This information is not available in the format requested. Information concerning the number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of acute renal failure and acute kidney injury according to whether they were alive or dead at the end of the hospital spell for 2011-12 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 A count of finished admission episodes(1) with a primary or secondary diagnosis(2) of acute renal failure and acute kidney injury(3) according to whether they were alive or dead(4) at the end of the hospital spell(5) for 2011-12 
			  Status of patients at end of spell 
			 Primary or secondary diagnosis Alive Dead Unknown. 
			 Acute renal failure 114,495 36,501 456 
			 Acute Kidney Injury 1,116 62 2 
			 (1) An FAE is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) The number of episodes where this diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a hospital episode statistics (HES) record. Each episode is only counted once, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record. (3) Acute Renal Failure/Acute Kidney Injury ICD10 codes N17.0 Acute renal failure with tubular necrosis N17.1 Acute renal failure with acute cortical necrosis N17.2 Acute renal failure with medullary necrosis N17.8 Other acute renal failure N17.9 Acute renal failure, unspecified O90.4 Postpartum acute renal failure S37.0 Injury of kidney (4) HES data cannot be used to determine the cause of death of a patient while in hospital. Deaths may be analysed by the main diagnosis for which the patient was being treated but this may not be the underlying cause of death. For example, a patient admitted for a hernia operation (with a primary diagnosis of hernia) may die from an unrelated heart attack. The Office for National Statistics collects information on the cause of death, wherever it occurs, based on the death certificate and should be the source of data for analyses on cause of death. (5) This field contains a code which defines the circumstances under which a patient left hospital. For the majority of patients, this is when they are discharged by the consultant. This field is only completed for the last episode in a spell. Alive: Discharged on clinical advice or with clinical consent Self discharged, or discharged by a relative or advocate Discharged by a mental health review tribunal, the Home Secretary or a court Dead: Died Baby was still born Unknown: Not known: a validation error. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.

Kidneys: Diseases

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the recommendations made in the report Acute Kidney Injury: Adding Insult to Injury published in 2009 by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death have been addressed.

Anna Soubry: The report “Acute Kidney Injury: Adding Insult to Injury”, published in 2009 by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCPOD), made a number of recommendations to improve the clinical care of people with acute kidney injury (AKI). In response to the report; the Department asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to provide definitive clinical guidance in this area. The NCPOD recommendations have informed the development of the guidance, the draft of which is currently out for consultation until 29 April 2013 and can be viewed on the NICE website
	www.nice.org.uk
	by typing ‘acute kidney injury’ into the search bar. It is anticipated that the final guidance will be published in August 2013.
	More generally, since the publication of the NCPOD report, the Department has undertaken a range of actions to support improved care for people with AKI. These have included developing multiprofessional e-learning packages for fluid management and AKI prevention; establishing regional networks for AKI to support integrated care for AKI patients and to share expertise and resources; working with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to develop a multiprofessional skills and competency programme for fluid management; and establishing an AKI delivery group with the key stakeholders in acute care.
	NHS Kidney Care (NHS KC), the kidney diseases improvement body, launched the Hydration Matters campaign in June 2012 to highlight the importance of good fluid management in order to improve care for acutely unwell patients and reduce the risk of kidney damage.
	Between August 2012 and January 2013, NHS KC also piloted an audit of stage 3 AKI (kidney failure) incidence and outcomes at 47 NHS trusts. The publication of comparative information will allow organisations to benchmark their performance against one another and to identify and share good practice. We anticipate the audit findings will be made available in May 2013.
	In November 2012, with the support of NHS KC, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh convened a United Kingdom wide meeting at which a consensus statement on how to improve the diagnosis and management of AKI was agreed. The statement can be read on the Royal College of Physicians website
	www.rcpe.ac.uk
	by typing 'acute kidney injury consensus statement' into the search bar.

Mental Health Services

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what progress has been made by the National Quality and Outcomes Group in developing a range of quality indicators and outcome measures to assess the performance of services provided by mental health trusts;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of delays in introducing a national tariff for mental health services in 2013-14 on improving choice and the quality of care for patients with mental health conditions;
	(3)  what progress he has made on developing a national tariff for mental health services; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The introduction of a national tariff for mental health services has not been delayed. 2013-14 was previously identified as the first possible year that a national tariff could be introduced for mental health services, if the evidence supported it. The Department has concluded that there is still a need to improve the quality of the clinical data that is being submitted through the Mental Health Minimum Data Set, as well as the costing of the new currencies before a national tariff can be considered. NHS England and Monitor are responsible for agreeing the scope of the tariff and the pricing of the tariff from 1 April 2013. It will be for these organisations to decide how quickly to move to a national tariff for mental health services.
	However, mental health providers and commissioners are moving forward on the implementation of payment by results (PbR) for mental health services. In the PbR guidance for 2013-14 the Department asked providers and commissioners to start to use some of the quality and outcome measures set out in the guidance and to review performance against these on a regular basis. Further work over the next year on these indicators aims to mandate the use of a key set of indicators in the future.
	Choice of provider for mental health services for those people referred to a secondary care mental health provider will commence in April 2014. Guidance to support the implementation of this policy is currently being developed.

Mental Health Services

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures will be used by his Department to assess whether the NHS is delivering parity of esteem for mental health with physical health; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board (known as NHS England) sets out the Government's ambitions for the health service for the next two years. It includes an objective for the NHS England to put mental health on a par with physical health, and close the health gap between people with mental health problems and the population as a whole. The objective sets out the progress we expect to see by March 2015.
	We have asked NHS England for its proposed response to the mandate, and we will assess whether NHS England is meeting the objective of putting mental health on a par with physical health by its practical actions, by whether its overall programme of work demonstrates that commitment, as well as progress on the relevant outcome measures in the NHS outcomes framework, and the delivery of other mental health commitments in the mandate.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential effects on children and adolescent mental health services of reductions in funding to local authorities for those services by the Department for Communities and Local Government; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Provision for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is included in both the overall financial allocations made to the national health service and in financial allocations made to local authorities through the Local Government Revenue Support Grant. All current social care grants, including the old CAMHS grant, were rolled into the Local Government Revenue Support Grant (LGRSG) for the spending review period 2011-15. The LGRSG is the main route by which local authorities receive the majority of their funding for local public service delivery/and is issued via the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	CAMHS funding is included in funding provided for On-going Personal Social Services. The funding for all Department of Health revenue grants has been maintained and will rise in line with inflation over the spending review period (£767.02 million in 2011-12, £784.43 million in 2012-13, £804.98 million in 2013-14 and £826.31 million in 2014-15 for On-going Personal Social Services). Individual elements of funding are not ring-fenced. It is for commissioners to decide how to use the resources available to them to best meet the needs of their local populations.
	The Department for Education has also made funding available through the Early Intervention Grant to local authorities and schools for a wide range of services for children, young people and families including targeted mental health support in schools. This grant is due to finish at the end of the financial year. From April 2013, this funding is being moved and the majority will be paid as part of the Dedicated Schools Grant as part of changes to give schools greater flexibility to respond to the individual needs of their pupils.
	Neither the Revenue Support Grant or Early Intervention Grant include ring fenced elements for CAMHS or anything else. This provides flexibility to local authorities and enables them to act more strategically and target investment early, where it will have the greatest impact.

NHS: Finance

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many NHS trusts went into administration in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of NHS trusts at risk of going into administration in 2013-14;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to prevent NHS trusts going into administration.

Anna Soubry: South London Healthcare is the only national health service trust that has been placed into the Trust Special Administrator's regime. The Secretary of State appointed a Trust Special Administrator in July 2012. On 31 January 2013, the Secretary of State for Health announced his decision regarding the future of the trust in order to secure a sustainable future for its services.
	The NHS Trust Development Authority (NHS TDA) is responsible for overseeing the performance management and governance of NHS trusts, including helping trusts to achieve foundation trust status.
	The NHS TDA is not formally considering the application of the Trust Special Administrator's regime for any other NHS trusts at present. However, this remains an option where needed to secure the provision of sustainable services.
	The NHS TDA will support NHS trusts in improving the quality and sustainability of their services for patients. It may take a range of bespoke steps depending on the circumstances, which might include specific support on key areas such as quality, finance, business planning and governance.

NHS: Finance

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of whether any NHS trusts are at risk of budget reductions resulting from financial problems of neighbouring trusts in 2012-13;
	(2)  which NHS trusts' budgets have been reduced as a result of financial problems of neighbouring NHS trusts.

Anna Soubry: National health service trusts receive income from commissioners as reimbursement for services provided to their local populations. They may also increase their income through a range of activities including attracting new patients to elective care. They should not be at risk of budget reductions as a result of financial problems in neighbouring trusts.

NHS: Health

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons staff health and well-being was not included in the NHS Commissioning Board's document, Everyone Counts: Planning for Patients 2013-14.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England has advised that ‘Everyone Counts: Planning for Patients 2013-14’ sets out the planning framework for national health service commissioners. It is focused on improving outcomes and delivering the rights and pledges under the NHS Constitution within available resources. In doing so it sets out the expectations that all staff follow the values set out in the NHS constitution and also within Compassion in Practice, the chief nursing officer's new vision and strategy. This includes six areas of action which include improving staff experience.
	NHS organisations, who are responsible for the health and well-being of their staff, continue to be supported by NHS Employers through a programme of work monitored under its contract with the Department. This programme includes:
	the identification, production, promotion and mobilisation of good practice;
	supporting 60 trusts to develop improvement plans for reducing sickness absence and improving staff health and well-being (now extended to another 45 trusts);
	developing performance in parts of the NHS with particular challenges (e.g. ambulance services/mental health trusts); and
	supporting the development of occupational health services.

NHS: Innovation

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the next set of high impact innovations will be identified as part of the Innovation, Health and Wealth implementation programme.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England is currently considering which innovations may constitute the next set of High Impact Innovations that will be a Prequalification Gateway for Commissioning for Quality and Innovation payments in 2014.
	A catalogue of potential innovations aligned to the five domains of the NHS Outcomes Framework was launched at the Innovation EXPO 2013.
	This catalogue lists a collection of ideas gathered as part of ongoing horizon scanning, aimed at identifying emerging innovative thinking in healthcare that may have the potential to form future programmes of work.
	A copy has been placed in the Library and is available on the following website:
	https://innovault.innovation.nhs.uk/pg/dashboard

NHS: Physiotherapy

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations his Department has received on access and provision of physiotherapy services for NHS staff.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has received representations on access and provision of physiotherapy services for NHS staff from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. “Fit enough for Patients? An audit of workplace health and wellbeing services for NHS staff” (published 13 March 2013) is their review of how much progress has been made in implementing the Boorman recommendations from his report on NHS Health and Wellbeing published in 2009.

NHS: Sickness Absence

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans his Department has to reduce staff sickness absence rates in the NHS;
	(2)  what plans his Department has to review the implementation of the recommendations of the NHS Health and Well-being Final Report, published in November 2009.

Daniel Poulter: The Department commissioned NHS Employers to support the national health service in improving staff health and well-being to help reduce sickness absence by encouraging trusts to implement five high impact changes (HICs) developed following the NHS Health and Well-being final report. The five HICs are: developing local evidence-based improvement plans; with strong visible leadership; supported by improved management capability; with access to better, local, high-quality accredited occupational health services; where staff are, encouraged and enabled to take more responsibility for their health.
	The current workplan includes: the identification, production, promotion and mobilisation of good practice; supporting the 60 most challenged NHS organisations that could release the biggest cash savings, with a further 45 being added; developing performance in parts of the NHS with particular challenges (e.g. ambulance services, mental health trusts) and supporting the development of occupational health services.
	Implementing the five HICs is a matter for individual NHS organisations. The Department has been monitoring progress through regular contractual reviews of the support being provided to the NHS by NHS Employers.

Nurses: Training

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the effect of his planned NHS funding reforms on the number of applications for nursing degrees in the (a) short and (b) long term.

Daniel Poulter: Reform of the funding of education and training is designed to provide commissioners of education programmes with the levers to improve the quality of national health service funded education and training, including nursing degrees. We would expect this to result in higher quality education and training which will make the programmes more attractive to applicants.

Obesity

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the recommendation of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges' report Measuring in: the medical profession's prescription for the nation's obesity crisis, published in 2013, to increase funding for weight management services; and if he will implement that report's recommendation that the Quality and Outcomes Framework be adjusted to provide incentives to GPs to refer patients to weight management services.

Anna Soubry: We have noted this report from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England’, published in October 2011, sets out the Government's approach to tackling obesity in the new public health and NHS systems and the role of key partners, which includes the medical profession, business and other Government Departments.
	Local authorities are responsible for commissioning weight management services. We have set up a new body for public health, Public Health England, to support local authorities in their public health responsibilities, including the identification and spread of good practice.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is responsible for reviewing the evidence and making recommendations on new indicators for the Quality and Outcomes Framework to the negotiating parties to the General Medical Services Contract.
	A copy of ‘A call to action’ has already been placed in the Library.

Ophthalmic Services

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital outpatient appointments were recorded for people with a primary or secondary diagnosis of (a) an ophthalmological condition, (b) age-related macular degeneration and (c) wet age-related macular degeneration, by primary care trust, in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Daniel Poulter: Tables which record the number of out-patient attendances for ophthalmic conditions and a count of out-patient attendances where the patient had a primary or secondary diagnosis of macular degeneration by primary care trust (PCT) for the years specified have been placed in the Library.
	It is not possible to differentiate between wet and dry age-related macular degeneration due to the coding used.

Ophthalmic Services

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital admissions were recorded for patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of (a) an ophthalmological condition, (b) age-related macular degeneration and (c) wet age-related macular degeneration by primary care trust in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Daniel Poulter: Tables which record the number of finished admission episodes where the patient was seen under an ophthalmology treatment speciality and a count of finished admission episodes where the patient had a primary or secondary diagnosis of macular degeneration by primary care trust (PCT) for the years specified have been placed in the Library.
	It is not possible to differentiate between wet and dry age-related macular degeneration due to the coding used.

Organs: Donors

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the use of organs donated to the NHS being given to fee-paying patients from overseas.

Anna Soubry: The offering process for organs donated in the United Kingdom is specified in NHS Directions given to NHS Blood and Transplant by the Secretary of State, specifically in paragraph four of the NHS Blood and Transplant (2005) Directions and associated guidance.
	All organs donated in the UK are first offered to national health service-entitled patients based on clinical need. This means people who are ordinarily resident in the UK; that is people who are lawfully living in the UK voluntarily and for settled purpose as part of their regular order of their life. It may also include certain persons who are entitled under European Union law and residents of non-European Union countries with whom the UK has bilateral health agreements.
	Only if the organs are rejected by all designated transplant units for NHS-entitled patients are organs then offered to non-NHS entitled patients.
	Once entitlement is established and the organ allocated, arrangements may be made for the actual surgery to be undertaken on a private basis. The Buggins review ‘Allocation of Organs to Non-UK EU Residents’, published in July 2009, found no evidence that people having their transplant as a private patient were allocated an organ more quickly.
	Donated organs save lives and, while priority is given to NHS entitled patients, when there is no such patient for an organ the use of it for a non-NHS entitled patient is allowed in order to save a life and avoid the organ being wasted.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2013, Official Report, column 248W, on Radiotherapy, which UK cancer centres delivering Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) are working with the UK SABR Consortium to create the national dataset;
	(2)  if he will request the UK Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy Consortium to make its new guidelines on cancers of the lung, liver and prostate publicly available;
	(3)  who chairs the UK Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) Consortium; and what experience that person has in delivering SABR to cancers of the prostate, head and neck, kidney, pancreas, liver and spine;
	(4)  which officials from his Department sit on the UK Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy Consortium; and for what reasons the Consortium only meets twice yearly.

Anna Soubry: The United Kingdom Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy Consortium is a national health service group allied to the Royal College of Radiologists, and has no formal link to the Department. Queries about the group, its membership and the frequency with which it meets should be addressed to its Chair, Dr Matthew Hatton, at the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
	As set out the previous answer on 13 March 2013, Official Report, column 249W, the consortium has advised the Department that it will make the guidance that it has developed more widely available in due course.

Sepsis

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which Minister in his Department is responsible for the performance of the NHS in the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of sepsis;
	(2)  what his Department's policy is on measures to ensure that (a) diagnosis of and (b) death from sepsis is accurately recorded by NHS trusts; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: I am the Minister responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis in terms of patient safety. My right hon. and noble Friend Earl Howe is the Minister responsible for national health service performance matters.
	The recording of data related to sepsis by national health service trusts has to comply with World Health Organisation (WHO) coding. The WHO changed the terminology used in January 2010, to refer to sepsis rather than septicaemia and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports will, in future, show sepsis under their categories, rather than septicaemia. This should enable a more accurate reflection of the position.
	In relation to the collection of data, although ONS use mandatory death certification to develop data on mortality, the description of the cause of death is a matter for local clinical judgment. As part of the Death Certification Reforms, the Department will be consulting shortly on new guidance to doctors for completing Medical Certificates of Cause of Death.
	Officials are exploring with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Health Education England how best to strengthen arrangements for sepsis training and give greater prominence to the importance of early detection and treatment of sepsis.

Suicide

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has held with the devolved Administrations on suicide prevention.

Norman Lamb: The Government are working with the devolved Administrations to share evidence on suicide prevention and effective interventions. A five nations official level joint working forum facilitates the sharing of best practice between the nations and enhances co-operation on mutually beneficial areas of work.

Tamoxifen

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether tamoxifen is available UK-wide for the treatment of cancer.

Norman Lamb: Tamoxifen is licensed for the treatment of breast cancer in the United Kingdom.
	In England, clinicians can prescribe any product, including any unlicensed product, subject to their primary care organisation agreeing funding, if they feel it is clinically appropriate for an individual patient after discussing the potential risks and taking into account the patient's medical history. In these circumstances, the clinician is expected to retain clinical responsibility for the patient while prescribing the medicine.

Telephone Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for each of the principal access numbers operated by (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible, what revenue has been retained by (i) the telephone provider for that line and (ii) his Department in each of the last three years.

Daniel Poulter: As of 27 March 2013 the principal access numbers operated by the Communication Division of the Department of Health and the Department's Executive agency, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, do not retain revenue either for the telephone provider, the Department or the agency. This has been the case for at least the last three years.
	The Department's new Executive agency, Public Health England, took over responsibility for a number of these phone services on 1 April 2013.
	The Department has a number of arm's length bodies and national programmes eg NHS Employers. Information about telephone services for these bodies is not held centrally and cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

Telephone Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which telephone lines are operated by (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible for public enquiries or other services; what the (i) principal access number and (ii) telephone service provider is for each number; and which such lines (A) are free to the caller and (B) may incur a charge to the caller.

Daniel Poulter: The following table shows the principal access numbers and service providers for the phone services managed or promoted on behalf of the Department of Health's Communication Division as of 27 March 2013.
	
		
			 Campaign or service Number Service provider 
			 Carers Direct 0808 802 0202 SERCO 
			 Change4Life 0300 123 4567 SERCO 
			 Drinkline 0800 917 8282 SERCO 
			 European Health Insurance Card 0300 330 1350 NHS Business Services Authority 
			 Frank 0800 776600 SERCO 
			 Healthy Start 0845 607 6823 SERCO 
			 Health Visitor Recruitment 0300 123 1023 SERCO 
			 NHS Careers 0345 60 60 655 SERCO 
			 Sexual health Line 0800 567123 SERCO 
			 Smokefree 0800 169 0169 SERCO 
			 Worth Thinking About 0800 28 29 30 SERCO 
		
	
	We are unable to say what a caller may or may not be charged as it depends on their own phone service supplier. The Department uses 080, 03 and 0845 numbers which can often be called free depending on the supplier.
	The Department's new Executive agency, Public Health England, took over responsibility for a number of these phone services on 1 April 2013.
	The principal access number for the Department's executive Agency, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, is a standard issued telephone number, 0203 0806000. As such the caller will receive standard call charges dependant on how the caller has placed the call, ie via standard telephone or mobile. The agency does not operate Freephone numbers; thus the caller will always incur a charge.
	The Department has a number of arm’s length bodies and national programmes eg NHS Employers. Information about telephone services for these bodies is not held centrally and cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

Transverse Myelitis

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration his Department has given to providing funding for research into transverse myelitis; and what estimate he has made of how many people are affected by that condition.

Norman Lamb: We have made no estimation of the number of people affected by transverse myelitis.
	The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including transverse myelitis. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the scientific quality of the proposals made. An application has been made to the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme for a trial of intravenous immunoglobulin versus standard therapy for the treatment of transverse myelitis in adults and children, and this has been recommended for funding subject to contract.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects his Department to begin engagement with stakeholders on the terms of inquiry into the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

Daniel Poulter: The inquiry into previous failings in maternity and neonatal services at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust is independent of the Government. The Department is supportive of efforts by the local NHS to ensure the investigation is fully transparent, independent and impartial. This includes the recent appointment of an independent chairmen, Dr Bill Kirkup CBE, to chair the inquiry. Terms of reference for the inquiry are a matter for the chair.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Computers

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers and (c) tablet devices his Department has purchased in the last two years.

Gregory Barker: In the last two years, DECC have purchased the following:
	
		
			  Number 
			 (a) Desktop computers 207 
			 (b) Laptop computers 280 
			 (c) Tablet devices 13

Recruitment

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what amount his Department spent on advertising job vacancies in each year from 2005 to 2009.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created in October 2008, therefore expenditure details can only be provided relating to the period October 2008 to March 2009.
	The expenditure for this period was £17,000.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect on investor confidence in the domestic renewable heating sector of the Government’s decision to delay introduction of the renewable heat incentive; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: We recognise that there are a number of investors keen to see the immediate full implementation of the RHI. However, we are equally aware of the importance of ensuring that we get the design of the domestic RHI right—if we do not, the effect on investor confidence could be far more damaging. We must design and deliver a scheme that offers sustainable support and delivers renewable heat in the most cost-effective way, learning from our experience of other schemes and from the evidence stakeholders provided through the consultation process.
	The extension of the renewable heat premium payment (RHPP) scheme and the continuing dialogue we are having with stakeholders in the sector are intended to mitigate some of the risk of reduced investor confidence.
	We remain committed to providing a long-term incentive for deployment of renewable heat installations in the domestic sector. We are continuing to make progress towards finalising the details of the domestic RHI as quickly as possible, and we intend to announce those details this summer, and open the scheme for payments from spring 2014.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many days of work were carried out by officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on average in each of the last five years; and what the total salary cost was of officials in each year.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created in October 2008. Therefore there is no data available prior to that date.
	All civil servants employed by (a) DECC and (b) its non-departmental bodies for which it is responsible, are expected, on average, to attend for 220 working days per year. This figure excludes weekends, public and privilege leave and annual leave.
	The total salary costs for civil servants employed by DECC are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Total salary cost (£000) 
			 2008-09 55,664 
			 2009-10 62,746 
			 2010-11 70,695 
			 2011-12 76,665 
		
	
	The annual resource accounts for each of the non-departmental bodies for which DECC is responsible are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Organisation Hyperlink to annual resource accounts 
			 Civil Nuclear Police Authority http://www.cnpa.police.uk/publications 
			 Coal Authority http://coal.decc.gov.uk/en/coal/cms/publications/annual_report/annual_report.aspx 
			 Committee on Climate Change http://www.theccc.org.uk/?s=annual+accounts 
		
	
	
		
			 Nuclear Decommissioning Authority http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/search-results.cfm?renderforprint= 0&renderelements=&fieldnames= &rendercontrolidlist=&c7153t1f6= 0&c7153t1f4=0&c7153t1f5=0& c7153t1f3=0.91&c7153t1f2=0& c7153t1fl=0 
		
	
	The total salary costs shown in the resource accounts for DECC and the non-departmental bodies for which it is responsible, in the tables above, include additional work carried out through overtime costs.

Wind Power: Lyme Bay

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to the use of any part of Lyme Bay as an offshore wind farm; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has given no consideration to the use of Lyme Bay as a possible location for an offshore wind farm. If such a development proposal is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate it will fall to the Department in due course to consider the Planning Inspectorate’s recommendation alongside all other representations received.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Computers

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers and (c) tablet devices her Department has purchased in the last two years.

Hugh Robertson: The following table sets out how many desktop computers, laptop computers and tablet devices the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has purchased in the last two years.
	
		
			 Type of computer Number bought in last two years 
			 Desktop computer 1 
			 Laptop computer 0 
			 Tablets (Ipads) 16

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Asylum: Education

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the UN Relief and Works Agency on the education of young refugees in its care.

Alan Duncan: I regularly discuss with the Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) a range of issues including the education of young refugees in its care.
	Between 2011 and 2015, the UK's contribution to UNRWA's general fund will provide, among other things, education for over 36,000 refugees a year. The UK has also provided support for construction of 12 new schools in Gaza, supporting at least 24,000 children to attend school one of which I opened on the 9 April. We provide funding in a way that supports better long term planning by UNRWA and drives improvements in services and value for money.

Computers

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers and (c) tablet devices her Department has purchased in the last two years.

Alan Duncan: The numbers of desktop computers, laptop computers and tablet devices purchased by DFID in the last two years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Type of computer Number purchased 
			 Desktop 1215 
			 Laptop 2811 
			 Tablet 1 
		
	
	The majority of the computers were purchased in the last six months as part of an upgrade of the Department's technology to replace existing laptops and desktops that were four and eight years old respectively.

Developing Countries: Police

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many police training projects were funded by her Department in 2012-13; how much funding was given to each project; and if she will make a statement

Alan Duncan: DFID's support to police training tends to be part of wider, multi-annual security and justice programmes. DFID does not currently fund any projects purely dedicated to police training and disaggregated data on funding for police training is therefore not available.
	DFID spent £27 million on security sector management and reform in 2011-12, which includes support for policing. Funding data for 2012-13 is not yet available.

Developing Countries: Politics and Government

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many governance projects were funded by her Department as ODA spending in 2012-13; and how much each such project cost.

Lynne Featherstone: The project database within the Department's website at:
	http://projects.dfid.gov.uk/
	provides full information including total planned project budget and spend to date by sector of all of the projects currently operational, completed and planned. This shows that 424 projects currently operational currently contribute towards governance-related activities.

Public Expenditure

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the estimated Resource DEL underspend in financial year 2012-13 of £500 million as set out in Table 2.5 of the Budget 2013 Red Book which service areas in her Department received reduced resources; what the amounts of resource reduction were; and if she will make a statement.

Justine Greening: Table 2.5 of the Budget 2013 Red Book shows the difference between Budget 2012 plans and Department's latest estimates of their full-year position.
	The Department will set out its spending for the year in detail in its annual accounts in the usual way.

Rwanda

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which post-genocide reconciliation projects her Department supported in Rwanda in 2012; and which such projects her Department plans to support in 2014-15.

Lynne Featherstone: In 2012, the UK supported the Public Policy Information Monitoring and Advocacy (PPIMA) project which encourages community dialogue and advocacy. The project aims to deliver improved services and to strengthen social cohesion and reconciliation.
	In the coming period, in addition to supporting a second phase of PPIMA, we will support the Aegis Trust to deliver a Genocide research and reconciliation programme, and a Kigali based think tank, the Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace, to deliver a project focusing on building peace through research, dialogue and strategic advocacy. Through an Innovation for Education fund, we will also fund ‘I-Witness in Rwanda', an innovative peace-building project that uses technology to encourage empathy for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.

Syria

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what further assistance she plans to provide to aid Syrian civilians.

Justine Greening: The UK is a leading donor to the humanitarian response in Syria and the region. Following our announcement at the pledging conference in Kuwait, the UK's total funding for Syria and the region to date is £139.5 million. UK funding is assisting people in need in Syria in addition to refugees and host communities in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. The UK is calling on all parties to the conflict to reach an agreement that allows humanitarian workers full, unfettered humanitarian access without interference or threat of violence.
	DFID continues to support the UN-led response in Syria and the region and is encouraging the UN to plan for a sustainable long-term humanitarian response. DFID continues to develop its strategy for meeting humanitarian needs.

Telephone Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development for each of the principal access numbers operated by (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public body for which she is responsible, what revenue has been retained by (i) the telephone provider for that line and (ii) her Department in each of the last three years.

Alan Duncan: No revenue has been retained by DFID for the principal access numbers operated by the Department and its non-departmental public bodies. The revenue retained by the telephone provider is a matter for the provider and not for the Department. DFID pays an annual fee to Level 3 Communications for provision of the 0845 number used for the Public Enquiry Point and are not charged for the number of calls received by that number.

Visits Abroad

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's budget was for overseas travel for officials and Ministers in 2012-13.

Alan Duncan: In 2012-13 DFID spent £11.25 million on travel. This total includes both domestic and overseas travel and includes travel expenditure by Ministers and officials.
	The Department's chart of accounts does not distinguish between overseas and domestic travel.

EDUCATION

Academies

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish the rates of pay for academy brokers.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 18 March 2013
	In May 2012, the Department published information on contractors whose contracts were worth over £58,200 per annum and this information can be found on the Department's website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/departmentalinformation/transparency/a00209502/tax-arrangements
	Academy brokers are listed as Education Advisers.
	Information to cover the remainder of the year 2012/13 for academy brokers is in the following table.
	
		
			 A B C D E F G H I J(a) J(b) K L M 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 700 799 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 700 799 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 600 699 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 500 599 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 500 599 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — <1yr 0 700 799 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 400 499 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 600 699 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 500 599 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 600 699 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 500 599 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 500 599 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — 1yr <2yrs 0 600 699 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
		
	
	
		
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — <1 yr 0 600 699 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Personal service company — — <1 yr 0 500 599 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Employment business Veredus (1)— 2yrs <3yrs 2 700 799 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Employment business Veredus (1)— 9yrs <10yrs 2 800 899 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Employment business Veredus (1)— 6yrs <7yrs 2 800 899 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Employment business Veredus (1)— <1yr 0 600 699 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Employment Business Veredus (1)— 4yrs <5yrs 2 700 799 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Employment business Veredus (1)— 2yrs <3yrs 2 700 799 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Employment Business Veredus (1)— 2yrs <3yrs 2 700 799 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 DFE DFE Education adviser Other Employment business Veredus (1)— 4yrs <5yrs 2 700 799 per day N Supply of education advice for the Dept’s Academies programme. 
			 (1) 18 King William Street, London, EC4N 7HE Key: A = Sponsor Department. B = Organisation. C = Job title. D = Specialism. E = Contractual chain, i.e. type of organisation that payments are being made to. F = Name of company, business or other entity to which payments are made. G = Address of company, business or other entity to which payments are made. H = Engagement length category. Shows the current continuous engagement period, including any contract renewals. I = Number of contract renewals. J(a) = Total cost of engaging the individual with a range: Lower bound (excludes VAT). J(b) = Total cost of engaging the individual with a range: Upper bound (excludes VAT). K = Payment methods. L = Has the contract been ended and/or the individual brought onto payroll since 31January? Y/N. M = Additional comments.

Academies

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many complaints have been made to his Department about the conduct of academy brokers.

Elizabeth Truss: There have been six formal written complaints made to the Department on the conduct of named academy brokers in the last 12 months.

Academies

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education into which groups school academies are organised; and who the designated accountancy officer is for each such group.

Elizabeth Truss: Academies can operate alone as a single academy trust or as part of a group of academies in a multi-academy trust (one academy trust with responsibility for more than one academy). Single academies can also be part of an over-arching umbrella trust or collaborative agreement.
	The funding agreement requires each academy trust to appoint an Accounting Officer. The Academies Financial Handbook requires each academy trust to designate a named individual as its Accounting Officer. The Accounting Officer should usually be the senior executive of the academy trust and in most cases this will be the Principal or for multi-trusts, the Chief Executive.

Adoption

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which local authorities have signed up to the Adopters Charter to date.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 25 March 2013
	The Department does not routinely collect information about the Adopters Charter but in July 2012 the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, at the Department's request, conducted an online survey into use of the Charter. Of the 52 agencies that responded 23 had implemented the Charter and another 24 planned to do so within the following year.

Cabinet Committees

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of meetings of the Home Affairs Cabinet Committee he has attended in the last 12 months.

Elizabeth Truss: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education prioritises attendance at Cabinet Committees. Information about the proceedings of Cabinet Committees is not routinely disclosed.

Care Homes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which local authorities have signed up to the Care Homes Charter to date.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 25 March 2013
	The draft charter for children and young people living in children's homes developed last year was not in the event issued. This was in the light of the decision to launch an urgent programme of work to review the quality of provision being delivered in children's homes. I announced on 5 February the key actions being taken in response to the report of the Expert Group on Quality, and as our plans are developed further I will be considering if the charter could now play a useful role in helping to raise expectations and drive improvements.

Childminding

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of childminders active in (a) England and Wales, (b) Suffolk and (c) Bury St Edmunds constituency in each quarter of each of the last three years.

Elizabeth Truss: This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries. The response covers the information requested for England only, as this is where the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education lies.

Education

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he plans to require all schools to publish their policies for building the character of their pupils.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has no plans to require all schools to publish their policies for building the character of their pupils.
	Section 78 of the Education Act 2002 requires the school curriculum to be balanced and broadly based and: to prepare pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life; and to promote pupils' spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development.
	It is for schools to determine how they do this through the teaching of their curriculum and in other ways.

Free School Meals

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of children in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bury St Edmunds constituency and (c) England were eligible for free school meals in (i) primary schools and (ii) secondary schools in each of the last three years.

David Laws: Information on the number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals is shown in the following tables.
	Information on the number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals as at January 2012 is published in the Statistical First Release 'Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics: January 2012' available at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/datasets/a00209478/schl-pupil-charac-jan-2012
	Copies of this report will be placed in the House Libraries.
	
		
			 State-funded primary and state-funded secondary schools(1,2,3): Number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals—January each year: 2010 to 2012—England, Suffolk local authority and Bury St Edmunds parliamentary constituency 
			  2010 
			  State-funded primary schools(1,2) State-funded secondary schools(1,3) 
			  No. on roll(4,5) No. of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4,5) % of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals No. on roll(4,5) No. of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4,5) % of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals 
			        
			 England 3,831,475 709,370 18.5 2,864,345 441,145 15.4 
			        
			 Suffolk 40,121 5,040 12.6 46,024 4,665 10.1 
			        
			 Bury St Edmunds constituency 5,546 481 8.7 9,615 632 6.6 
		
	
	
		
			  2011 
			  State-funded primary schools(1,2) State-funded secondary schools(1,3) 
			  No. on roll(4,5) No. of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4,5) % of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals No. on roll(4,5) No. of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4,5) % of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals 
			        
			 England 3,866,885 741,315 19.2 2,837,825 450,275 15.9 
			        
			 Suffolk 41,952 5,612 13.4 44,207 4,423 10.0 
			        
			 Bury St Edmunds constituency 5,629 547 9.7 9,449 687 7.3 
		
	
	
		
			  2012 
			  State-funded primary schools(1,2) State-funded secondary schools(1,3) 
			  No. on roll(4,5) No. of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4,5) % of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals No. on roll(4,5) No. of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4,5) % of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals 
			        
			 England 3,941,625 759,040 19.3 2,809,815 449,485 16.0 
			        
			 Suffolk 46,464 6,335 13.6 41,474 4,057 9.8 
			        
			 Bury St Edmunds constituency 6,020 569 9.5 9,303 699 7.5 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes all primary academies, including free schools. (3) Includes city technology colleges and all secondary academies, including free schools. (4) Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations. Includes boarders. (5) Pupils who have full-time attendance and are aged 15 or under, or pupils who have part time attendance and are aged between five and 15. Note: National numbers have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: School Census

Free School Meals

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to automatically enrol eligible students for free school meals.

David Laws: The Department has no plans to enrol eligible students automatically for free school meals.
	We are, however, considering options to promote wider use of the eligibility checking service by local authorities so that they can improve their application processes, encouraging more parents to apply online.

Free School Meals

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he plans to take to ensure that money awarded to universal credit recipients for free school meals is spent on school meals.

David Laws: The Government's intention is that free school meals will continue to be provided by schools as a meal in kind under universal credit.

GCSE

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils without statements of special educational needs who were (a) eligible and (b) not eligible for free school meals and who attended mainstream schools that were not academies, achieved 5 A* to C grades including English and mathematics but excluding equivalents is each year since 2003.

David Laws: holding answer 18 March 2013
	The requested information for the academic year 2007/08 to 2011/12 is given in the following table. Information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The drop in the number of pupils in 2011/12 is the result of the larger proportion of pupils attending academies, who are excluded from this table.
	
		
			 Achievements at GCSE for pupils(1) without a statement of SEN at the end of key stage 4 by free school meal eligibility, 2007/08 to 2011/12 (revised)(2), England, state-funded mainstream schools excluding academies 
			  Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals All other pupils(3) All pupils(4) 
			   Achieving 5+ A*-C grades excluding equivalents including English and mathematics GCSEs  Achieving 5+ A*-C grades excluding equivalents including English and mathematics GCSEs  Achieving 5+ A*-C grades excluding equivalents including English and mathematics GCSEs 
			 Pupils without a statement of SEN(5) Number of eligible pupils Number Percentage Number of eligible pupils Number Percentage Number of eligible pupils Number Percentage 
			 2007/08 65,693 15,258 23.2 497,738 255,863 51.4 563,431 271,121 48.1 
			 2008/09 63,813 16,133 25.3 473,195 252.990 53.5 537,008 269,123 50.1 
			 2009/10 63,780 17,884 28.0 461i450 261.333 56.6 525,230 279,217 53.2 
			 2010/11 62,862 19,095 30.4 438,077 258.765 59.1 500,939 277,860 55.5 
			 2011/12 51,645 15,555 30.1 312,827 174,504 55.8 364,472 190,059 52.1 
			 (1) Pupils at the end of key stage 4 in each academic year. (2) Figures for 2007/08 to 2010/11 are based on final data, 2011/12 figures are based on revised data. (3) Includes pupils not eligible for free school meals and for whom free school meal eligibility was unclassified or could not be determined. (4) Includes pupils for whom free school meal eligibility or SEN provision could not be determined. (5) Includes pupils with no identified SEN, SEN pupils without a statement (classified as School Action or School Action plus) and unclassified pupils. Source: National pupil database (2007/08 to 2010/11) and key stage 4 attainment data (2011/12).

GCSE

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils in each school achieved an A* to C grade in both English and mathematics GCSE excluding equivalents in each year since 1997.

David Laws: holding answer 26 March 2013
	The information requested for 2005/06 to 2011/12 academic years has been placed in the House Libraries. Information for other years could be provided only at disproportionate cost as this measure was only routinely produced from the 2009/10 academic year onwards.

Home Education

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of children in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England were home-educated in the academic year (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12 in (A) Foundation Stage, (B) Key Stage 1, (C) Key Stage 2, (D) Key Stage 3 and (E) Key Stage 4.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 March 2013
	Information on the numbers and ages of home educated children is not collected by the Department for Education.

Official Engagements

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his official engagements were on 12 February 2013.

Elizabeth Truss: Details of the Department's Ministers' meetings with external organisations from May 2010 to September 2012 have been published on our website and data.gov.uk. Details of meetings for February 2013 will be collated as part of the information for the first quarter of this year and published as soon as possible.

Overtime

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average cost in overtime payments was per member of staff in his ministerial private office in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Elizabeth Truss: Average expenditure on overtime for the private ministerial office of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education in the last financial year (from 1 March 2012 to 28 February 2013) was £4,956 per official.

Priority School Building Programme: Sandwell

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he expects school improvement works to commence on (a) Phoenix Collegiate Academy, (b) Hall Green Primary School and (c) Harvills Hawthorn Primary School under his Department's Priority School Building programme in Sandwell; if he will inform those schools of his Department's timetable for works under the programme; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: holding answer 26 March 2013
	Engagement work will start with Phoenix Collegiate Academy, Hall Green Primary School and Harvills Hawthorn Primary School between July and September 2013. The Education Funding Agency (EFA) sent a letter to the schools on 20 July 2012 to inform them of this schedule and to confirm that an EFA project director will contact each of the schools to organise an initial meeting during that time period.

Public Expenditure

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the estimated Resource DEL underspend in financial year 2012-13 of £1 billion as set out in Table 2.5 of the Budget 2013 Red Book which service areas in his Department received reduced resources; what the amounts of resource reduction were; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: Table 2.5 of the Budget 2013 Red Book shows the difference between Budget 2012 plans and the Department's latest estimates of its full-year position.
	In addition to forecast underspend against final plans, since Budget 2012 the Department has surrendered £612 million of RDEL at the supplementary estimate, of which £612 million is available for future years through the Budget Exchange mechanism.
	The Department will set out its spending for the year in detail in its annual accounts in the usual way.

Pupils: Bullying

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many incidents of (a) bullying between pupils and (b) verbal and physical abuse of school staff by pupils were recorded in schools in (i) Suffolk, (ii) Bury St Edmunds constituency and (iii) England in each of the last three years.

Elizabeth Truss: Information is not available in the form requested.
	The Department collects information on the reasons pupils are excluded from school. This includes exclusions relating to bullying, to physical assault against an adult and to verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult.
	Information on the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions by reason for the years 2008/09 to 2010/11 is given in the tables.
	The latest published information on permanent and fixed period exclusions is available in the 'Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions from Schools in England 2010/11' Statistical First Release at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/a00211337/
	A copy of the release will be placed in the House Library.
	
		
			 State-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools(1,2,3,4): number of permanent exclusions and fixed period exclusions by reason 2008/09 to 2010/11, England 
			  Permanent exclusions 
			  Bullying Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against an adult Physical assault against an adult 
			  2008/09(5) 2009/10(5) 2010/11 2008/09(5) 2009/10(5) 2010/11 2008/09(5) 2009/10(5) 2010/11 
			 England 50 50 60 710 630 510 730 580 570 
			 Suffolk local authority 0 0 x 17 9 7 6 7 8 
			 Bury St Edmunds constituency 0 0 0 x x 0 0 0 x 
		
	
	
		
			  Fixed period exclusions (pupils can be excluded more than once) 
			  Bullying Verbal abuse/ threatening behaviour against an adult Physical assault against an adult 
			  2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 
			 England 5,140 5,100 4,800 78,350 69,190 65,170 17,200 16,370 16,790 
			 Suffolk local authority 74 51 49 1,460 1,154 770 216 221 206 
			 Bury St Edmunds constituency 10 11 19 257 153 162 31 37 32 
			 x = less than 5 exclusions. (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes primary academies. (3) Includes city technology colleges and secondary academies (including all-through academies). (4) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (5) Figures relating to permanent exclusions at national and local authority level are based on incomplete pupil-level data and include some estimation for missing data. Constituency level figures are as reported without estimation. Note: National figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children in Kingston upon Hull North constituency qualify for the Pupil Premium; and how much has been transferred to each school in Kingston upon Hull North under the pupil premium in each of the last two financial years.

David Laws: holding answer 12 March 2013
	The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011. Pupil Premium funding is provided to schools which have on roll pupils known to be eligible for free school meals (the Deprivation Premium); children in care who have been continuously looked after for at least six months (the Looked After Child Premium); and children whose parents are serving in the armed forces (the Service Child Premium).
	In the financial year 2011-12, 3,340 pupils attending schools in Kingston upon Hull North constituency area were eligible for the Deprivation Premium or Service Child Premium, attracting £1.623 million. It is not possible to identify, at constituency level, the number of pupils eligible for the Looked After Child Premium or the number of pupils eligible for the Deprivation Premium in Alternative Provision settings.
	In the financial year 2012-13, eligibility for the Pupil Premium was extended to include those eligible for FSM at any point in the last six years. This had the effect of increasing the number of pupils in Kingston upon Hull North constituency eligible for the Deprivation Premium or Service Child Premium to 4,680, attracting £2.906 million.
	In 2013-14, total Pupil Premium funding will rise from £1.25 billion to £1.875 billion per year. This will enable the level of funding for the Deprivation and Looked After Child Premium to increase to £900 per pupil and the Service Child Premium to increase to £300 per pupil. Final allocations for 2013-14 are not yet available. Illustrative Pupil Premium allocations using January 2012 pupil numbers show that Kingston upon Hull North constituency will receive approximately £4.196 million of Pupil Premium funding in 2013-14 for 4,680 eligible pupils. Final allocations for 2013-14 based on 2013 pupil numbers will be published in the autumn.
	A breakdown of Kingston upon Hull North constituency school allocations for the financial years 2011-12, 2012-13 and illustrative allocations for 2013-14 are provided in Annex A.
	
		
			 Annex A: State-funded primary, secondary and special schools, and pupil referral units(1, 2, 3, 4: )Number of pupils eligible for the pupil premium in 2011/12(8, 9) 
			        Deprivation pupil premium(6) 
			 URN Parly const LA Local authority Estab School name Number on roll(5) Number of pupils eligible for the deprivation pupil premium Percentage of pupils eligible for the deprivation pupil premium Allocation for the deprivation pupil premium 2011/12(7)()(£) 
			 132026 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 1103 Ashwell Pupil Referral Unit * * * * 
			 117713 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2002 Appleton Primary School 256 50 19.5 24,400 
			 133597 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2003 The Parks Primary School 247 155 62.8 75,640 
			 117716 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2040 Stepney Primary School 204 80 39.2 39,040 
			 117717 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2045 Bricknell Primary School 625 66 10.6 32,208 
			 117773 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2162 Endike Primary School 250 127 50.8 61,976 
			 117792 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2200 The Green Way Primary School 433 284 65.6 138,592 
			 117795 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2279 Parkstone Primary School 331 56 16.9 27,328 
			 117796 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2280 Hall Road Primary School 211 111 52.6 54,168 
			 117808 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2493 Thorpepark Primary School 314 206 65.6 100,528 
		
	
	
		
			 117816 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2647 Sidmouth Primary School 190 63 33.2 30,744 
			 117822 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2684 Thoresby Primary School 354 80 22.6 39,040 
			 117898 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2822 Cleeve Primary School 327 179 54.7 87,352 
			 117901 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2861 Biggin Hill Primary School 432 189 43.8 92,232 
			 117904 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2868 Highlands Primary School 358 192 53.6 93,696 
			 117913 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2884 Broadacre Primary School 294 74 25.2 36,112 
			 117929 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2902 Bude Park Primary School 214 94 43.9 45,872 
			 118031 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3302 Newland St John CofE Primary School 208 51 24.5 24,888 
			 118046 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3400 Endsleigh Holy Child RC Primary School 263 26 9.9 12,688 
			 118047 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3404 Holy Name RC Primary School 175 86.8 49.6 42,358 
			 118049 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3460 St Vincent's RC Primary School 206 15 7.3 7,320 
			 118050 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3500 St Nicholas' Primary School 188 48 25.5 23,424 
			 118051 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3506 St Andrew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School 538 56 10.4 27,328 
			 118052 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3508 St Mary Queen of Martyrs RC Primary School 279 63 22.6 30,744 
			 131918 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4004 Kingswood College of Arts 797 239 30.0 116,632 
			 118070 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4030 Newland School for Girls 850 249 29.3 121,512 
		
	
	
		
			 118103 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4113 Kelvin Hall School 972 180 18.5 87,840 
			 118117 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4626 St Mary's College 1258 209 16.6 101,992 
			 118138 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 7000 Northcott School * * * * 
			 118139 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 7006 Frederick Holmes School * * * * 
			 118140 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 7007 Oakfield * * * * 
			 Notes: x = Less than five pupils or a percentage based on less than five pupils or an allocation amount based on less than five pupils. * = Allocations for these schools are not included as they are either a maintained special school or PRU. The premium for these establishments is held with the local authority (please see the conditions of grant). (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes primary academies. (3) Includes city technology colleges and secondary academies. (4) Includes maintained special schools, excludes general hospital schools and non-maintained special schools. (5) Full-time equivalent (FTE) pupils in year groups R-11 (where national curriculum year groups do not apply pupils aged four to 15). For all those aged five and over includes sole or dual main registrations only. In pupil referral units, FTE pupils aged four (all registration types) and headcount of pupils aged five to 15 (sole or dual main registrations as well as pupils who are registered with other providers and further education colleges). (6) Full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals in year groups R-11, (where national curriculum year groups do not apply pupils aged four to 15). For all those aged five and over includes sole or dual main registrations only. In pupil referral units, FTE pupils aged four (all registration types) and headcount of pupils aged five to 15 (sole or dual main registrations as well as pupils who are registered with other providers and further education colleges) known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals. (7) Each FSM eligible pupil will attract £488 through the pupil premium. For pupils in maintained primary and secondary schools funding will be passed to schools via the local authorities. Academies will receive funding from the YPLA. For pupils in maintained special schools and PRU's funding will be allocated to local authorities to decide whether to pass on funding to the education setting or to hold back funding to manage centrally for the benefit of those pupils it has responsibility for. (8) It is not possible to determine the number of parliamentary constituency pupils recorded on the Alternative Provision census or recorded as looked-after children as they are both local authority returns, and not an establishment level return. Therefore, this figure will be lower then the corresponding figure on the local authority table. (9) The number of service children are not provided at school level due to data protection issues. 
		
	
	
		
			 State-funded primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units(1, 2, 3, 4): Number of pupils eligible for the pupil premium in 2012-13(8, 9, 10) 
			        Deprivation pupil premium(6) 
			 URN Parly Const LA Local authority Estab School name Number on roll(5) Number of pupils eligible for the deprivation pupil premium Percentage of pupils eligible for the deprivation pupil premium Deprivation pupil premium allocation for 2012-13(7) (£) 
			 132026 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 1103 Ashwell Pupil Referral Unit * * * * 
			 117713 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2002 Appleton Primary School 275 78 28.4 48,594 
			 133597 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2003 The Parks Primary School 247 188 76.1 117,124 
			 117716 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2040 Stepney Primary School 216 111 51.4 69,153 
			 117717 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2045 Bricknell Primary School 629 102 16.2 63,546 
		
	
	
		
			 117773 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2162 Endike Primary School 282 172 61.0 107,156 
			 117792 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2200 The Green Way Primary School 440 333 75.7 207,459 
			 117795 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2279 Parkstone Primary School 323 64 19.8 39,872 
			 117796 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2280 Hall Road Primary School 248 161 64.9 100,303 
			 117808 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2493 Thorpepark Primary School 316 242 76.6 150,766 
			 117816 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2647 Sidmouth Primary School 195 70 35.9 43,610 
			 117822 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2684 Thoresby Primary School 361 113 31.3 70,399 
			 117898 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2822 Cleeve Primary School 346 236 68.2 147,028 
			 117901 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2861 Biggin Hill Primary School 466 293 62.9 182,539 
			 117904 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2868 Highlands Primary School 359 246 68.5 153,258 
			 117913 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2884 Broadacre Primary School 292 96 32.9 59,808 
			 117929 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2902 Bude Park Primary School 205 128 62.4 79,744 
			 118031 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3302 Newland St John CofE Primary School 231 77 33.3 47,971 
			 118046 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3400 Endsleigh Holy Child RC Primary School 275 40 14.5 24,920 
			 118047 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3404 Holy Name RC Primary School 187 117 62.6 72,891 
			 118049 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3460 St Vincent's RC Primary School 209 27 12.9 16,821 
			 118050 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3500 St Nicholas' Primary School 201 70 34.8 43,610 
		
	
	
		
			 118051 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3506 St Andrew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School 550 72 13.1 44,856 
			 118052 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3508 St Mary Queen of Martyrs RC Primary School 291 85 29.2 52,955 
			 131918 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4004 Kingswood College of Arts 750 390 52.0 242,970 
			 118070 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4030 Newland School for Girls 802 372 46.4 231,756 
			 118103 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4113 Kelvin Hall School 1,056 334 31.6 208,082 
			 118117 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4626 St Mary's College 1,270 306 24.1 190,638 
			 118138 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 7000 Northcott School * * * * 
			 118139 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 7006 Frederick Holmes School * * * * 
			 118140 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 7007 Oakfield * * * * 
			 Notes: x = Schools with less than five pupils or a percentage based on less than five pupils or an allocation amount based on less than five pupils have had their figures suppressed for data protection. * = Allocations for these schools are not included as they are either a state-funded special school or pupil referral unit (PRU). The premium for these establishments may be held with the local authority (please see the conditions of grant). (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes primary academies (including free schools) as recorded on the January 2012 census. This does not reflect any academies newly opened since census day. (3) Includes city technology colleges and secondary academies (including free schools) as recorded on the January 2012 census. This does not reflect any academies newly opened since census day. (4) Includes local authority maintained special schools, general hospital schools and special academies (including free schools). This does not reflect any academies newly opened since census day and does not include non-maintained special schools. (5) Full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils aged four and over as at 31 August 2011 in reception to year 11 (where national curriculum year groups do not apply and pupils in general hospital schools, includes pupils aged four to 15) as recorded on the January 2012 School and Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) Census. FTEs are calculated on the same basis as the Dedicated Schools Grant. (6) Full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils aged four and over as at 31 August 2011 in Reception to Year 11 (where national curriculum year groups do not apply pupils aged four to 15) as recorded on the January 2012 School and PRU Census who are known to have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) in the previous six years (FSM eligibility in the previous six years will be determined by those pupils recorded on the January 2012 School, AP and PRU Census who were recorded as known to be eligible for FSM on any of the censuses (School, PRU and AP censuses) since summer 2006, known as Ever 6). FTEs are calculated on the same basis as the Dedicated Schools Grant. (7) Each Ever 6 eligible pupil will attract £623 through the pupil premium. For pupils in maintained primary and secondary schools funding will be passed to schools via the local authorities. Academies will receive funding from the Education Funding Agency (EFA). For pupils in maintained special schools and PRUs funding will be allocated to local authorities to decide whether to pass on funding to the education setting or to hold back funding to manage centrally for the benefit of those pupils it has responsibility for. (8) The number of eligible looked-after children and FSM pupils recorded on the Alternative Provision Census are not included in school level tables (although are eligible for the pupil premium) as they are taken from local authority returns. (9) The number of service children are not provided at school level due to data protection issues (10) Using data from January 2012 and FSM history on all School Censuses since 2006, known as Ever 6. 
		
	
	
		
			 State-funded primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units(1, 2, 3, 4): Illustrative number of pupils eligible for the pupil premium in 2013-14(8, 9, 10, 11) 
			        Deprivation pupil premium(6) 
			 URN Parly Const LA Local authority Estab School name Number on roll(5) Number of pupils eligible for the deprivation pupil premium 2012-13 Percentage of pupils eligible for the deprivation pupil premium 2012-13 Illustrative deprivation pupil premium allocation for 2013-14(7) (£) 
			 132026 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 1103 Ashwell Pupil Referral Unit * * * * 
			 117713 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2002 Appleton Primary School 275 78 28.4 70,200 
			 133597 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2003 The Parks Primary School 247 188 76.1 169,200 
			 117716 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2040 Stepney Primary School 216 111 51.4 99,900 
			 117717 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2045 Bricknell Primary School 629 102 16.2 91,800 
			 117773 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2162 Endike Primary School 282 172 61.0 154,800 
			 117792 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2200 The Green Way Primary School 440 333 75.7 299,700 
			 117795 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2279 Parkstone Primary School 323 64 19.8 £57,600 
			 117796 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2280 Hall Road Primary School 248 161 64.9 144,900 
			 117808 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2493 Thorpepark Primary School 316 242 76.6 217,800 
			 117816 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2647 Sidmouth Primary School 195 70 35.9 63,000 
			 117822 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2684 Thoresby Primary School 361 113 31.3 101,700 
			 117898 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2822 Cleeve Primary School 346 236 68.2 212,400 
			 117901 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2861 Biggin Hill Primary School 466 293 62.9 263,700 
			 117904 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 2868 Highlands Primary School 359 246 68.5 221,400 
			 117913 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2884 Broadacre Primary School 292 96 32.9 86,400 
			 117929 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 2902 Bude Park Primary School 205 128 62.4 115,200 
			 118031 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3302 Newland St John CofE Primary School 231 77 33.3 69,300 
		
	
	
		
			 118046 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3400 Endsleigh Holy Child RC Primary School 275 40 14.6 36,000 
			 118047 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3404 Holy Name RC Primary School 187 117 62.6 105,300 
			 118049 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3460 St Vincent's RC Primary School 209 27 12.9 24,300 
			 118050 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3500 St Nicholas' Primary School 201 70 34.8 63,000 
			 118051 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3506 St Andrew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School 550 72 13.1 64,800 
			 118052 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3508 St Mary Queen of Martyrs RC Primary School 291 85 29.2 76,500 
			 131918 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4004 Kingswood College of Arts 750 390 52.0 351,000 
			 118070 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4030 Newland School for Girls 802 372 46.4 334,800 
			 118103 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4113 Kelvin Hall School 1,056 334 31.6 300,600 
			 118117 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4626 St Mary's College 1,270 306 24.1 275,400 
			 118138 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 7000 Northcott School * * * * 
			 118139 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 7006 Frederick Holmes School * * * * 
		
	
	
		
			 118140 Kingston upon Hull North 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 7007 Oakfield * * * * 
			 Notes: x = Schools with less than five pupils or a percentage based on less than five pupils or an allocation amount based on less than five pupils have had their figures suppressed for data protection. * = Allocations for these schools are not included as they are either a state-funded special school or pupil referral unit (PRU). The premium for these establishments may be held with the local authority (please see the conditions of grant). (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes primary academies (including free schools) as recorded on the January 2012 census. This does not reflect any academies newly opened since census day. (3) Includes city technology colleges and secondary academies (including free schools) as recorded on the January 2012 census. This does not reflect any academies newly opened since census day. (4) Includes local authority maintained special schools, general hospital schools and special academies (including free schools). This does not reflect any academies newly opened since census day and does not include non-maintained special schools. (5) Full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils aged four and over as at 31 August 2011 in reception to year 11 (where national curriculum year groups do not apply and pupils in general hospital schools, includes pupils aged four to 15) as recorded on the January 2012 School and Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) Census. FTEs are calculated on the same basis as the Dedicated Schools Grant. (6) Full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils aged four and over as at 31 August 2011 in reception to year 11 (where national curriculum year groups do not apply pupils aged four to 15) as recorded on the January 2012 School and PRU Census who are known to have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) in the previous six years (FSM eligibility in the previous six years will be determined by those pupils recorded on the January 2012 School, AP and PRU Census who were recorded as known to be eligible for FSM on any of the censuses (School, PRU and AP censuses) since summer 2006, known as Ever 6). FTEs are calculated on the same basis as the Dedicated Schools Grant. (7) Each Ever 6 eligible pupil will attract £900 through the pupil premium. For pupils in maintained primary and secondary schools funding will be passed to schools via the local authorities. Academies will receive funding from the Education Funding Agency (EFA). For pupils in maintained special schools and PRUs funding will be allocated to local authorities to decide whether to pass on funding to the education setting or to hold back funding to manage centrally for the benefit of those pupils it has responsibility for. (8) The number of eligible looked-after children and FSM pupils recorded on the Alternative Provision Census are not included in school level tables (although they are eligible for the pupil premium) as they are taken from local authority returns. (9) The number of service children are not provided at school level due to data protection issues. (10) Using data from January 2012 and FSM history on all School Censuses since summer 2006, known as Ever 6. (11) These figures are for illustrative purposes only. Final 2013-14 allocations will be based on pupils on roll in January 2013 and FSM history on all pupil level censuses since summer 2007.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much schools in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bury St Edmunds constituency and (c) England received in funding from the Pupil Premium in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and how much such schools are expected to receive in 2012-13.

David Laws: The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011. Pupil Premium funding is provided to schools which have on roll pupils known to be eligible for free school meals (the Deprivation Premium); children in care who have been continuously looked after for at least six months (the Looked After Child Premium); and children whose parents are serving in the armed forces (the Service Child Premium).
	In the financial year 2011-12, 1,303,180 pupils in England were eligible for the Deprivation, Looked After Child and Service Child Premium attracting £622.973 million.
	In the financial year 2011-12, 12,160 pupils in Suffolk local authority were eligible for the Deprivation, Looked After Child and Service Child Premium, attracting £5.548 million.
	In the financial year 2011-12, 1,650 pupils attending schools in Bury St Edmunds constituency area were eligible for the Deprivation Premium or Service Child Premium, attracting £703,000. It is not possible to identify, at constituency level, the number of pupils eligible for the Looked After Child Premium or the number of pupils eligible for the Deprivation Premium in Alternative Provision settings.
	In the financial year 2012-13, eligibility for the Pupil Premium was extended to include those eligible for FSM at any point in the past six years.
	In the financial year 2012-13, 1,924,920 pupils in England were eligible for the Deprivation, Looked After Child and Service Child Premium attracting £1.180 billion.
	In the financial year 2012-13, 20,250 pupils in Suffolk local authority were eligible for the Deprivation, Looked After Child and Service Child Premium, attracting £12.021 million.
	In the financial year 2012-13, 2,780 pupils attending schools in Bury St Edmunds constituency area were eligible for the Deprivation Premium or Service Child Premium, attracting £1,577,000.
	In 2013-14, total Pupil Premium funding will rise to £1.875 billion per year. This will enable the level of funding for the Deprivation and Looked After Child Premium to increase to £900 per pupil and the Service Child Premium to increase to £300 per pupil. Final allocations for 2013-14 are not yet available. Illustrative Pupil Premium allocations using January 2012 pupil numbers show that Suffolk local authority will receive approximately £17.269 million, while Bury St Edmunds constituency will receive approximately £2.253 million of Pupil Premium funding in 2013-14. Final allocations for 2013-14 based on 2013 pupil numbers will be published in the autumn.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) schools and (b) pupils have participated in the pupil premium in (i) Brigg and Goole constituency and (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Laws: holding answer 26 March 2013
	The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011. Pupil Premium funding is provided to schools which have on roll pupils known to be eligible for free school meals (the Deprivation Premium); children in care who have been continuously looked after for at least six months (the Looked After Child Premium); and children whose parents are serving in the armed forces (the Service Child Premium).
	In the financial year 2012-13, 49 schools in the Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency attracted Pupil Premium funding. This amounted to £1.38 million Pupil Premium funding in respect of 2,240 pupils eligible for the Deprivation Premium or Service Child Premium. It is not possible to identify, at constituency level, the number of pupils eligible for the Looked After Child Premium or the number of pupils eligible for the Deprivation Premium in Alternative Provision settings.
	In the financial year 2012-13, 2,245 schools in Yorkshire and Humber attracted £126.372 million Pupil Premium funding in respect of 205,550 pupils eligible for the Deprivation Premium, Service Child Premium or Looked After Child Pupil Premium.
	The Pupil Premium will increase from £623 in 2012-13 to £900 per pupil in 2013-14 and the Service Premium will increase from £250 to £300 per pupil. Figures from the January 2013 school census which are used to determine the allocations for 2013-14 are not yet available. Illustrative allocations, based on numbers of pupils eligible for the Deprivation Premium or Service Child Premium in 2012, suggest that Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency will attract around £1.991 million Pupil Premium funding in 2013-14. Illustrative allocations based on numbers of pupils eligible for the Deprivation Premium, Service Child Premium or Looked After Child Premium in 2012, suggest that Yorkshire and Humber will attract around £182.284 million Pupil Premium funding in 2013-14. Final allocations for 2013-14 based on 2013 pupil numbers will be published later this year.

Schools: Defibrillators

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on having defibrillators in all schools.

David Laws: holding answer 24 January 2013
	There is currently no requirement on schools to have a defibrillator on school premises. It is a matter for individual school determination as to whether they choose to have a defibrillator and to arrange for suitable training of the school workforce in its use.

Sickness Absence

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many days (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies has lost to staff sickness in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such absence in each year.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department's latest figures for sickness absence (December 2012) show 4.5 average working days lost (AWDL) per staff year, down from 8.7 AWDL in December 2009. Notional costs of absence in 2012 amounted to circa £1.9 million, equalling approximately 1.4% of the Department's total paybill costs. The Department's level of sickness absence is significantly lower than civil service averages (7.6 AWDL per staff year), and a private sector average of 5.7 days per person according to the CIPD and 5.9 days per person according to the CBI. Figures for AWDL in the last five years are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Headcount (DFE and agencies) 
			  AWDL 
			 2008 7.4 
			 2009 8.7 
			 2010 6.1 
			 2011 4.7 
			 2012 4.5 
		
	
	The Department does not have data for non-departmental public bodies.

Teachers: Industrial Disputes

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions he (a) has recently had and (b) intends to hold with the National Union of Teachers and NASUWT to negotiate an agreement.

David Laws: holding answer 21 March 2013
	We remain fully committed to seeking a resolution to the current disputes with the NUT and the NASUWT. We have met frequently with both unions to discuss their concerns and will continue to do so. The Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), and the Minister of State for Schools have met with the NUT 13 times and with the NASUWT 22 times since the general election. The Secretary of State wrote to the NUT and NASUWT on 28 March explaining that, although he is happy to discuss any issue with them, the Government's direction of travel on changes to teachers' pension and pay arrangements is now fixed.

Teachers: Training

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2013, Official Report, column 724W, on teacher training, if he will require initial teacher training providers to report to his Department the number of non-UK students who (a) are eligible for and (b) take up a training bursary award.

David Laws: Data requirements to inform teacher supply policy development are kept under regular review. However there is currently no operational need to collect information on the number of non-UK students who (a) are eligible for and (b) taking up a training bursary award.

Teachers: Training

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2013, Official Report, column 724W, on teacher training, what data initial teacher training providers are required to report to his Department about students eligible for a training bursary award.

David Laws: Currently initial teacher training (ITT) providers are required to submit data about all trainees enrolled on ITT programmes each year in October. These data comprise information about: the training provider; the trainee (including their name, characteristics, qualifications on entry, degree class and subject where applicable) and the training programme (including subject, phase and level of training).
	These data are used to inform recruitment and assure funding. A summary of the data is published annually in the DFE school workforce statistics.

Telephone Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for each of the principal access numbers operated by (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible, what revenue has been retained by (i) the telephone provider for that line and (ii) his Department in each of the last three years.

Elizabeth Truss: A survey of telephone lines in the Department and its agencies confirmed that no revenue has been retained by the telephone providers or the Department in the last three years.

Telephone Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which telephone lines are operated by (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible for public enquiries or other services; what the (i) principal access number and (ii) telephone service provider is for each number; and which such lines (A) are free to the caller and (B) may incur a charge to the caller.

Elizabeth Truss: No central list of departmental and agency telephone lines is maintained, but following a survey across the Department and its agencies we can provide the following.
	
		
			 Name of helpline Number Telephone service provider Charges to the customer 
			 National DFE Telephone inquiry line and switchboard 0370 000 2288 BT See note 
			 DFE Publications orderline 0845 60 222 60 BT 3.7p per minute from BT landline (charges may vary dependent on network) 25p per minute from a mobile (charges may vary dependant on network) 
			 Contact A Family Telephone Helpline 0808 808 3555 CMT (Corporate Management Telecom) Ltd See note 
			 Coram Children's Legal Centre Telephone Helpline 0808 802 0008 BT See note 
			 Family Rights Group Telephone Helpline 0808 801 0366 Call Handling See note 
			 Family Lives (formerly Parentline Plus) Telephone Helpline 0808 800 2222 BT See note 
			 Gingerbread Telephone Helpline 0808 802 0925 BT See note 
			 Young Minds Telephone Helpline 0808 802 5544 Call Handling See note 
			 Fosterline 0800 040 7675 Charterhouse See note 
			 Teacher Information Line 0800 389 2500 BT See note 
			 Return to Teaching 0800 085 0971 BT See note 
			 Teacher Inquiry Line/QTS Line 0300 7900 225 BT See note 
			 Examinations Administration Line 0300 100 0100 Maintel See note 
			 Education Funding Agency Learner Support—Student Helpline 0800 121 8989 BT See note 
			 Education Funding Agency Learner Support—Provider Helpline 0845 600 7979 BT See note 
			 National College helpdesk 0845 609 0009 BT See note 
			 STA National Curriculum Assessment line 0300 303 3013 Maintel See note 
			 STA Order Line 0300 303 3015 Maintel See note 
			 STA Modified Tests helpline 0300 303 3019 Maintel See note 
			 Governorline 0800 072 2181 BT See note 
			 National Gateway for Adoption (operating as First4Adoption) 0300 222 0022 BT See note 
		
	
	
		
			 Note: Ofcom definition of costs: 03 numbers Calls cost no more than calls to geographic numbers (01 or 02) and must be included in inclusive minutes and discount schemes in the same way. Calls from landlines are typically charged between 2p and 10p per minute; calls from mobiles typically cost between 10p and 40p per minute. Calls from landlines and mobiles are included in free call packages. 0800 and 0808 numbers Calls are normally free of charge from landlines but charges may apply from mobile phones. However, the operator must make an announcement before the call is connected telling the caller that they will be charged (the announcement does not state the exact charge). Calls from mobiles typically cost up to 31 p per minute. 0845 numbers Calls are typically charged at between 1p and 10.5p per minute depending on the time of day for landline customers, and often include a call set-up fee. Calls from mobile phones generally cost between 12p and 41p per minute.'

Written Questions

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether answers to parliamentary questions from Ministers within his Department are ever subject to wider ministerial consultation before being signed by the answering Minister.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 March 2013
	It is often the case that an answer will be seen by more than one Minister. In particular, this occurs when a Commons question falls within a Lords Minister's policy responsibilities, or when a Lords question falls within a Commons Minister's responsibilities. It may also happen when a PQ answer crosses more than one Minister's responsibilities. This is to ensure members receive the most accurate and up-to-date reply.

Written Questions

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answers of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 649W and 11 March 2013, Official Report, column 12W, on written questions, what discussions Ministers of his Department had on the guidance issued; what training Ministers in his Department have received on written questions; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 26 March 2013
	Ministers in this Department have not discussed the Cabinet Office guidance about how websites are referenced in written PQ answers, although officials have. All Ministers receive information about the handling of parliamentary business as part of their induction to the Department, and all Ministers comply with the Ministerial Code with respect to their duties to Parliament.